Lovesick Melody
by Paramore-Fan-Says-Hi
Summary: A Jasper and Alice human love story : R&R!
1. Alice, Meet Sunny

**This is AH. Um, it's how I think Alice and Jasper might have met if they were both human. I know people are always for the diner scene, but I just thought I'd write this. So don't hate on it. **

**Lovesick Melody**

Alice's POV

"She's been kind of... troubled, lately." I overheard them speaking about me. I narrowed my eyes, gripping the wall a little harder with my small hands, fury rippling through my small frame. "How so, William?" I heard _her _ask. "She's so mad all the time now," He started. I hadn't realized that they had noticed my growing frustration. "And she's always so rude, and she never eats, never sleeps." He told her. She put her fingers to her mouth, gasping a little bit. So fake. Why didn't he notice? "But... but William, we can't leave her..." She said, just saying it seemed to make it even more inevitable. I hated her with my whole heart. "Alice dear, why don't you come out here now, and we'll discuss where your... leaving to."

I sat stiffly on the couch, only a few inches from William. Mandy – the girl – sat on the chair across from me. She glowered at me, but I ignored her, my eyes on William. "Alice honey, where would you like to go?" He asked me. "Don't ask her that!" Mandy shouted. "You're already aware of what she'll answer!" She shouted again. "Mandy, calm down." William said to her. She clamped her mouth shut, looking defeated. "Now, Alice. Where would you like to go?" He asked me again. I moved my eyes to steal a quick glance at Mandy. She didn't say anything. She had tuned out of this conversation, angry. "Philadelphia." I stated. "Alice. That is much, much to far away! How will we get you there?" He asked me. "I don't know, nor do I care. I just want to go to Philadelphia." I said. "Why Philadelphia?" William asked me. "Because it's where I'll find what I've been looking for, where I'll be happy." I let the last four words slip out of my mouth before I could stop them. Mandy jumped up. "Ha! I told you; all she cares about is herself! That's it! She only wants to go to Philadelphia because it's where that retched boy that she loves so much will be!" Mandy shouted, jumping from her seat. I got up to, stalking up to Mandy. "Yes! It is! That's why I want to go there! He's the reason! Let me go there! Please!" I shouted, standing face-to-face with Mandy. She wasn't taller than I. "Never! I told you, you'll marry someone worth your time, worth _my _time!" She told me angrily. "And _I'm _selfish?!" I asked her. "Yes! That boy is _nothing!_" I let out a scream of rage, and pulled my fist back and then smiled a maniac smile when it hit Mandy's nose, cracking it loudly. William flinched. "Argh! What is wrong with you!?" Mandy asked. She had one hand over her nose, the other was balled into a fist, trying to hit me. I darted out of the way every time, just in time. Suddenly, I was backed against the front door, and Mandy was standing in front of me, her fist pulled back and ready to swing. I felt the doorknob under my hand, and I twisted and ran out the now-open door. "Mary Alice Brandon!!" I heard her shout from behind me. I knew they were to lazy to pursuit me, figuring I'd probably come back later. Which I wouldn't. Ever.

I caught up with a bus sometime later. About three hours, to be exact. I'd been running for three hours! I pulled myself onto the bus, tired. I handed the bus driver a few cents, and he asked me where I wanted to go. "Philadelphia." I answered breathlessly. "Ah." He said. Had _everyone _heard about me? The freak

girl that's looking for some boy that everyone else believes doesn't exist? The girl that sees things that shouldn't be seen? The girl that narrowly escaped being put in a mental hospital? An asylum? Had everyone known about these things? I pondered these things as I fell asleep on the back of the bus.

I awoke the next morning in a different seat, more to the front, with someone sitting next to me. It was a girl, and her blonde hair was cut so it stopped above her shoulders, and freckles littered her face lightly. Her eyes were a soft blue, and she seemed nice. I trusted her already. Something I tried hard not to do. I yawned involuntarily and the girl looked down at me. She smiled, and helped me sit up. I realized that my head was in her lap. After I was sitting up next to her, she started speaking. "My name is Sunny. I found you on the back of the bus, and recognized you. You were in the paper, and they were saying such... such _evil _things about you. I hear you were going to Philly. I am to. So, I though, maybe we could be friends? I don't have any friends..." She trailed off. "Why not?" I asked, my voice hoarse from misuse. "Oh... because I'm strange. Like... you." She said, staring off into space now. Her face was sad-ish. Her voice was high, like a hat stream trickling down it's path. I wanted to hear it more, it was such a nice sound. "Tell me more." I said. She looked at me, surprised. "If we're going to be friends... I need to know more about you. I only know me." I told her.

She told me all about herself. She was nineteen, as was I, she played guitar, she loved animals, her parents hated her, she met a boy down in Philadelphia, and her parents had not approved. So much like me, except I couldn't play guitar. That was my sisters – Cynthia – talent. Not that I'd seen her for about five years, after my family had left me with William and Mandy. "I always wanted to go back to Philly. To live there, because I met _him _there. The right one. I knew it the moment I saw him, but of course, my parents did not approve. It's nearly the same as your situation, only you haven't met him yet. But you know, completely, absolutely, that _he _is the one for you. It happens." Her voice reminded me of a lovesick melody. Mostly because her voice was so musical, and because she was lovesick and so was I.

We talked to each other about random things until it was night again, and I fell asleep on her lap, my short black hair spiralling out of control, and she leaned her head against the glass of the window, her breath fogged it up. Her hands were on my stomach, and my legs were curled up onto the seat. She snored lightly, the kind of snore that helps you get to sleep because it's not too loud and it lets you know that your not the only one.

Sunny woke me up, her eager voice echoing in my head. "Hey, Alice! It's an airport! We're at the airport!" She stage-whispered to me. I sat bolt upright. "Yes! C'mon! I have money, two tickets! Let's go!"

We ran to the airport and boarded the plane, quiet for once, the excitement keeping us quiet, instead of the other way around. We fell asleep that night in nearly the same position. Well, Sunny fell asleep. I stared up at the ceiling of the plane, even though I was supposed to be asleep in my own seat, I felt more comfortable with Sunny holding onto me, like she was my long lost sister. Sunny was my rock. Only a day, and we were already so close. I knew already that it would hurt to say good-bye.

I fell asleep around 3:00am and woke up three hours later, feeling not at all rested. I woke Sunny up and she yawned and stretched. A voice came over the intercom. "Will all passengers please fasten their seat-belts and prepare for landing in Philadelphia." The voice said. I got out of Sunny's lap and fastened my seat-belt, as did she. We landed five minutes later, and Sunny and I were bouncing with excitement again. We got off the plane quickly, with no luggage at all, we were the first ones out. We left the Philadelphia airport in a rented car Sunny bought and drove. We stopped in front of a coffee shop, and ate some lunch there. "Mm." Was all we said to each other. Our last meal had been air-packed peanuts with instructions like: Open package. Eat peanuts. I laughed a little at the memory, sipping my coffee.

"Where?" Sunny asked again. I didn't answer. We were sitting on a bench out in the rain. "Where?" She asked once more. "I don't know. We've tried everywhere." I said. We _had _tried everywhere. The boys we were after were no where to be seen. "What's his name? We can look him up in a phone book." I suggested. "Yes! Alice, your a genius!" She said. "What's his name?" I asked again. "Aaron Channolie." She told me. "How do you spell the last name?" I asked. "C-H-A-N-N-O-L-I-E." She told me. We found a phone book in the trash outside someones house. We brought it back to our bench, and I skipped to the Ch's. I pointed to the A Channolie. "Is that him?" I asked. "Yes! C'mon!" she grabbed my wrist and pulled me in the direction of the house the phone book had said.

When we arrived, the rain was pouring down harder. Sunny banged on the door, squinting through the rain. The door opened. "Aaron?!" Sunny yelled over the bang of the rain. "Sunny? Sunny!" Sunny let go of my wrist on threw her arms around Aaron's neck, and Aaron pulled her close and kissed her passionately. I looked away.

When they were finished saying hello, I looked at Aaron. He had dirty-blonde hair, freckles sprinkled over his nose and green eyes. He smiled and took my hand, asking my name. I told him my name was Mary, but I preferred Alice. My middle name. He nodded, introducing himself even though I knew his name already. "Well, Alice. Thanks for helping bring my Sunny back." He smiled, and I smiled a pained smile to. "Aaron, I have to help Alice for a few days. Will you be alright?" Sunny asked, her face torn between the two or us. I found I wasn't the only one who had stuck to the quick friendship. "Um, okay." Aaron said. He was so nice. I could see why Sunny loved him. They kissed one more quick time and Sunny and I ran off.

We sat on a different bench, letting the rain hit us, not minding really. "What's his name?" Sunny asked, her voice soft and musical. "I don't know." I said. Sunny turned her head to me, we were lying on the bench because this one didn't have a back and it was wider. "You don't know?" She said. I moved my head back and forth. "Then... how will you know?" She asked. "I just will." I told her. She nodded. "Do you have any idea where he might be?" She asked. "Um, I don't know. I just saw him, I could look..." I suggested. "Do that." And she rolled over and started snoring. I had no idea anyone could fall asleep in this weather, but Sunny had lived on the streets before. How many times had she slept in the rain? I wondered. Too many times. I concluded. I closed my eyes and tried to have a vision. It worked. Sort of.

_Sunny and I are walking down a street. It is sunny out today. We walk into a club. _

_Blood._

_Lights are flashing._

_This song... it makes me sad._

_Strong arms around me._

_Screams. _

I sat upright quickly, stiffly. Sunny gasped beside me, sitting up next to me. The sun was out now, and the glare had dried Sunny and I's clothes by a degree. "What? Where? Who? How? Where am I?" Sunny asked. "You're here,with me. Calm down!" I said. She slowed her breathing and glanced around, relaxing. The vision I had before was blurry, and I can't remember a thing. "We should go to a dance club. I hear boys love to hang out there." Sunny suggested. "Yeah, okay." I replied. We rolled off the bench thing and I followed her to the club. She went in first, assuring me everything was fine. Guys watched us as we passed, unsure of us. Sunny pulled me along by the arm. We found a clear space in the middle of the floor, and Sunny started dancing to a song I didn't know. I moved off to the side, trying not to be noticed. I bumped into somebody, and a sharp pain cut through my back. I screamed, and blood pooled on the floor at my feet. Lights started flashing even more wildly. The song playing brought tears to my eyes for no reason. I nearly collapsed in the pool of blood at my feet. Someone caught me. A man, a strong one. I saw Sunny racing after us as the man carried me out. She screamed. The man paused and Sunny caught up, looking into my face. She had seven eyes and three mouths. That was all I saw before I blacked out.

I sort of woke up in a hospital. I stayed looking unconscious because I heard Sunny talking to who I thought was the man who had carried me. "...not really Sunny. I changed it because my real one is so dark." Sunny said. "What is your real name?" The man asked. I wished he would keep talking. His voice lifted me up to heaven, it seemed. I wished I could see what he looked like, but I stayed where I was. "My real name was repugnant, really. I hated it. I think it was something along the lines of 'Blackest Hole.'" Sunny said. I could almost see the man's eyes widen. "Yeah, dark. Like it's from another world. I changed it to Sunny because Sunny is a pretty name, and I look so small for my age, and Sunny reminds me of smallness." Sunny said. Or Blackest Hole. No, I liked Sunny. "What's your name anyways?" Sunny asked. "Jasper." The man said. The name made my heart skip a beat, as if it meant something. The hospital monitor caught that, though. And my cover was blown. "Alice?" Sunny called, coming over to stand by my head. I opened my eyes to see her blue ones staring into mine. She had only two this time, which was good. "Alice." This time it was a sigh, and she relaxed. The man – Jasper – was standing at the end of the bed. I didn't look. Sunny hugged me gently. "What happened?" I asked. "Oh, Alice! The man you bumped into, he was holding a knife! A knife! Can you believe it? He was holding it straight forward, _trying to hurt someone! _Then you screamed and Jasper picked you up and carried you here with me! Look! Look at Jasper." She told me. Cautiously, I turned my head to Jasper. And I was right. He was the one.

My gasp had Sunny reaching towards me again. "What is it?" She asked. I grabbed a handful of her sandy blonde hair and I pulled her head down so I could whisper in her ear. "_Him." _Luckily, Sunny wasn't stupid. She knew exactly what I meant. She gasped to, and yanked her hair out of my hand. She hugged me and then ran over and hugged Jasper. "I'll go now! But I'll be back!" She winked at me. Jasper stared after her then looked at me. I just looked at his honey-golden hair and his amazing blue eyes. He stared at me. At my short black hair, my dull green eyes, and my full lips. I felt self-conscious. I didn't want him staring at me... but I did. "Alice?" He spoke first. I nodded, not trusting my voice. "I'm sorry." He told me. "Why?" I asked. "Sunny told me, that you were looking for someone, and when you whispered in her ear and she left... I was pretty sure she meant _me._" I stared at him for a minute, then started laughing hysterically. Because it was true. Because it wasn't true. I hadn't been specifically looking for him. I didn't know it was him, but still. "What? Am I wrong?" He asked, embarrassed. I laughed harder. "No... no." I said, not really sure what I was answering. "I wasn't wrong?" He asked, trying to make sure. "No... no!" I said again. He grunted and sat on the end of my bed. I stopped laughing. He moved up so he was by my head. He held it in his hands, looking at me with a very serious face. "Am. I. Wrong?" He asked. "No." I squeaked. He nodded, letting his hands loosen on my face. "What am I going to do with you?" He murmured, more to himself than to me. I started trembling. He didn't want me? Why did this upset me so much? I didn't even _know _him. I pulled my knees up to my chest and cried silently into them. The painkillers must have made me emotional. That's it. But no, it was because he didn't want me! That's what made me so upset! My tears got a little more prominent, and my gasping little sobs became audible. Jasper whirled around, on his feet, and turned to me. "What?" He asked, worried. He tried to pry my hands off my shins, to get me to uncurl. My sobs got louder whenever he touched me. It only made it worse! A nurse came in then, and saw Jasper trying to pry my hands off myself, and me crying. She got the wrong idea quickly, and she told Jasper to get lost. He stared after me but left obediently. The nurse gently untangled me, but I continued to cry. "What is it? What do you want?" The nurse asked me in an urgent voice. "Sunny!" I called through my tears. Sunny ran through the door, stopping for a second to take in the scene in front of her. No Jasper, crying Alice, nurse. What was wrong with this picture? She shoved the nurse aside and cradled me in her arms carefully. "What is it?" She whispered. I glanced at the nurse, and Sunny shot her a look of daggers and the nurse left reluctantly. "Now tell me why your crying." Sunny demanded. "He... didn't... like... me!" I wailed. "I never said that!" Jasper had re-entered the room, shouting at his defence. "Who asked you!?" Sunny yelled. "No one, but I need the truth!" He said. "Okay, this girl can see the future, she saw you, and she loves you! Happy now?" Sunny asked. Jasper stood there shocked. I sat cradled in Sunny's arms, my tears seeming to freeze. "What?" Jasper managed. "You heard me. Do you love her?" Sunny asked. She was awfully blunt, I noticed. At least she was when she wanted to be. "I don't know." He answered. At least it wasn't a solid 'no.' Sunny set me down and I watched her come up to stand right in front of Jasper. He was at least two feet taller than her. Sunny and I were both short. "Listen now. I'm going to leave again, but when I come back... if she's crying again..." Sunny didn't even bother saying the rest. She left, and we were left alone.

**One more chapter or two. That's it. Promise!!! Yeah, yeah. Okay.**

**Song: Lovesick Melody - Paramore**


	2. Surprise!

**I kept forgetting to write this! How stupid. While your reading this chapter, listen to LOVESICK MELODY BY PARAMORE because that's where I got the idea from. Another song you could listen to is probably... hmm, hold on, let me think. Yeah, got one. I'd Lie, by Taylor Swift. Oh, and another would be Heart Heart Heartbreak by Boys Like Girls or Two is Better Than One. Or I Caught Myself by Paramore.**

_Sunny_

I paced the hallway outside the hospital room Alice had been put into. I sighed and leaned against the cold white wall, brushing the little beads of sweat from my forehead. I wish Aaron was here – he always made everything better. My feet seemed to start to move again without my consent. I counted the tapping in my head. 

* * *

Over and over. I kept counting along to my repeated 4/4 beat until I heard hushed whispers from Alice's room. I stuck my hand in my pocket and stayed quiet. I fingered the little stick of bubblegum lip-smackers in my pocket. "I don't know..." the voice was Alice's.

"How can you not know?" Jasper. His voice was full of restraint. Alice was annoying him.

"Easy. You came... and you don't like me. Simple. Now you can leave – forget I even exist. It would be easier for you, would it not?" She asked.

"It _would _be easier, but does it really matter, if I upset you so? I don't want to hurt you." He said. They were getting _somewhere _at least. I moved my foot so the bottom of my shoe was propped against the wall. I pulled out my lip-smackers and applied it over and over. My lips smelt strongly of bubblegum now.

"Why don't you want to hurt me? What do you care? I'm just another person." Alice said. Her self esteem level was starting to irritate me.

"But your not _just _another person." Jasper told her.

"This relationship would just head straight for a heartbreak. Simple." Alice said. I heard her move, probably so she wasn't facing Jasper. I fought the urge to peek in and check.

"How do you know?" He asked her. "How could you know?" He added.

"I didn't see it. It's just... obvious. We are complete opposites." She said. I didn't understand. Why did she drag me all the way here if all she's going to do is give the boy reasons _not _to love her.

"Opposites attract."

"Depends."

"Two is better than one."

"What if I'm a murderer? Than I'd be better off on my own." I was glad to see Alice's mood was lightening.

"Murderer's need ally's, am I wrong?" Jasper laughed, Alice joined to. I smiled. Then, the doors near me burst open, and I nearly jumped out of my skin, but I relaxed when I saw it was Aaron. Then I panicked at the expression he was wearing. "What?" I asked, running over to him quickly.

"Where's your friend?" He asked me.

"In there but-" He ran past me, into Alice's hospital room.

"Alice! There's two people, but they have an army of other people looking for you! They said... William and Mandy! You have to run!" He said. Alice's face quickly changed into the same expression Aaron was wearing, and she rushed to get up, hunched over because of the big, giant gaping hole in her back. Jasper scooped her up easily and they ran out after Aaron, who was now dragging me along with him.

"Who's Mandy? Who's William?" I asked, honestly curious. Alice was bouncing up and down slightly in Jasper's arms, cringing.

"My... caretakers. I... suppose. They aren't very good though. Won't let me do anything. I ran away." She said, her voice clipped, as if she was keeping something to herself.

"You're hiding something. What is it?" I asked.

Alice narrowed her eyes, this I caught as we ran to the back of the mostly empty hospital. "Tell me." I said.

"They... hit me. A lot." She admitted. We all stopped dead in our tracks, except for Aaron.

"C'mon! That just gives us even more of a reason to get out of here!" He shouted, tugging on my hand. I finally got my feet moving, and we started again a little unsteady.

"Don't worry, I'll make you safe... don't worry." I could barely hear Jasper whisper the words of reassurance to Alice. She nodded, not really paying attention. How sad.

"Someone's going to see us." She said.

"How do you – never mind." I said. Alice chuckled lightly, steering Jasper in the proper direction so we didn't get caught. We were in the dark now, impossible to see.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"As far back as we can get." Jasper said.

"And how far back is that?" I asked.

"Very, very far back. The hospital was renovating, so now there's an entire column back here that nobody uses, and nobody can get into." He told me.

"Then how are we going to get back there?" I asked, pausing for a moment before Aaron pulled me back into motion. Alice smiled and waved. Of course, she would've seen the way. I sighed and we all slowed to a walk, because we were all getting tired. Jasper knocked on the wall in front of us.

"How do we get in?" He asked, looking at Alice, who had taken a seat on the floor.

"Move your hand to the right – yes – now tap three times." She instructed. Jasper knocked, a faint _tap, tap, tap. _A little glow-in-the-dark pad popped up with numbers on it.

"87, 47, 63, 8." Alice told him before he could ask. He typed in the numbers, and the wall moved open slowly, and – thankfully – quietly. Jasper went through first, his hands extended, for it was still dark. He waved us in after a moment, and we followed him in, I helped support Alice as she hunched over. We all got through the door and it closed with a fairly audible _clunk. _

"Shh," Aaron said, as if the door could hear him. I almost laughed.

"Where now?" Jasper asked.

"To your left." Alice instructed.

"Now?"

"Right."

"Now?"

"Straight."

"Now?"

"Sit down." We all sat in a little circle. It was impossible to see. Alice sat in between Jasper and I. She looked like she was tired, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and she leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. Pure, best friend stuff. I could feel Jasper staring at me with jealousy. I smiled. Alice started to snore lightly, and this made the environment much more light. We made small talk for a bit.

After a few hours of talking, more people started to drift off. I was leaning on Aaron, because supporting Alice was making me tired. I yawned.

"We should have shifts... just in case." Aaron suggested.

"That's a good idea. Who can go first?" Jasper asked.

"I can." I said through my yawn.

"You look really tired, Sunny." Aaron commented.

"So does everyone else, but you don't see them complaining." I retorted.

"Okay fine, but-" He was cut off when someone shone a light towards us. We all froze.

"Well, I see our little Alice has found some new friends." A voice said. Alice sat bolt upright at the sound of the voice.

"Those _bitches!"_

**Okay, so this story is going on longer than I was expecting. Do you want me to continue? Tell me in the reviews, oh, and if you could be any one character in this story who would you be?**

**I think I'd be Sunny. Anyway, leave me a review telling me your thoughts, who you would want to be, and if I should continue. Thanks!**


	3. Kidnapped and Kissed

**I'm seriously considering dumping a bottle of fruit punch on my own head... because I need a shower but don't have an excuse to take one. R&R, please, because it makes my chapters better!**

_Alice_

Nobody even moved. I got up angrily, stretching my back so the pain stretched out and got worse until it disappeared altogether. My mom had taught me that when I was little. I fought back a wave of grief, and went up to face Mandy, the one who had spoken. She was not alone. She had some of her friends, but I didn't spot William. Some of the people I recognized included Zoe, Chuck, Taylor, Jeff and June. They were all bigger than me. I stood in front of my new group of friends, determined to protect them from these horrible people. Jasper got up then, and he stood in front of me. Guarding me.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"Protecting you." He stroked my face, and I pulled back instinctively. It would take me a long time – if ever – to get used to anybody touching me. Mandy and Williams had hit me every time I messed up. Which was often. And Williams had done some... worse things. All in all, I was a victim of child abuse, and I only wanted a saviour, but I couldn't let anyone in! I was jerked back to reality suddenly.

"So this is your new boyfriend?" Mandy asked. I made a face, and Jasper winced.

"Oh, don't look so surprised. And be careful; she's a tease. William says so." I gasped, taken aback by Mandy's bluntness. I had never... "I have never." I repeated out loud. Jasper looked back at me, hurt in his eyes. I shook my head slowly and surely. He believed me. Thank god.

"Don't lie, child. Didn't we teach you better?" Mandy said, stepping forward. Jasper tensed. I walked forward so I was standing right in front of her.

"You never taught me anything except violence and rape." I said. Mandy gasped, acting as if she was shocked.

"You insolent child! We don't speak of those things." She said. I rolled my eyes.

"Why don't you just shut up?" I asked.

"Do _not _speak like that!" She gasped. June made a face at Sunny behind me.

"Sunny?" She asked.

"June? Is that you?" Sunny replied. She got up and ran over to June, hugging her.

"June!" Mandy barked. June pulled away from Sunny quickly, standing at attention. Sunny looked hurt.

"Sorry, Sunny. This is my life now, and if killing you is part of it, I'm fine with it." Her voice was strained, forced. Sunny blinked, and walked back to Aaron. Mandy looked back at me, a sick smile on her face.

"Now, let's settle this now. You will come back with us, and your little friends will forget this has ever happened... or else." Mandy smiled at my friends and ruffled my hair. I grabbed her hand and she froze. Not in terror, in anger. I slowly moved her hand off my head.

"Don't. Ever. Touch. Me." I let her hand drop back to her side. She pulled it back up, and _whip! _Across my cheek. My cheek burned with the fresh impact. Jasper dashed forward and grabbed her. She kicked at him with both legs, and the rest of her crew kicked into gear. June jumped on Aaron, ripping at his hair as Sunny begged her with tears in her eyes to stop, all the while trying to knock Jeff off her back. Zoe came at me but I threw her off. She might be taller than me, but – believe it or not – she was skinnier. I went over to where Jasper and Mandy were fighting. "Stop." I said. Nobody listen. "Stop! For god's sake STOP IT!" I screamed. Everyone stopped, but didn't move. "Your all fighting over me. If they want me, let _me _fight for _me." _I said. Jasper pushed Mandy off of him and over to me. He put his hand under my chin and lifted my head up so he could look in my eyes.

"I will never stop fighting for you, because if you die, _I _die." And he kissed me. My whole body filled up and burnt out in that kiss, as if he had taken a lighter and set me on fire. I moved my arms to go behind his neck and I pulled myself closer to him. I didn't care that everyone stared. Why should I? He pulled away slowly, lingering a little. I smiled to myself, and took my time in opening my eyes. I wished, that the fight wouldn't continue, that life could just be perfect for right now. Just for a minute. That June – whatever her relation to Sunny – could be the nice fourteen year-old girl she had been four years ago. That Mandy didn't have to have war. That Jeff could be that tall lanky kid I had known and – for a short period of time – loved. That Zoe didn't always looked so worked, so tired. That Taylor could go home to her family, her kids, Chase and Rosie. That Chuck could love Zoe without being ridiculed and picked on. That I – with everyone I loved – could just be free of all the horror. But, life isn't perfect.

"Ah, a happy ending. Oh, wait a minute; that would be _your _happy ending. Not mine. That means this has to go on. June, why don't you use that gift I gave you?" She asked. That gift. I thought back to the last time we had celebrated June's birthday.. what had Mandy gotten her? It was on the edge of coming to me... a knife!

"No!" I exclaimed, but it was too late. I jumped at her, clinging to Aaron's back. I knocked her off balance, causing the knife to shift and cut a thin gash on the back of Aaron's neck. He cried out, his hand flying to the fresh wound. His mess of blonde curls was already starting to soak up the blood.

"Aaron!" Sunny cried out, shaking Jeff off her easily this time, and she ran over to him. I caught June and put my hands under her arms, heaving her into a pole that was only visible thanks to Mandy's flashlight. She grunted when her head hit the pole, and she stumbled back and fell to the ground. The knife she had been holding was implanted in her arm. I gagged. She picked her arm up and looked at it. The tip of the long knife stuck through the other side of her skinny arm, just missing the bone. She gagged, as well. The fight continued around me. I approached June slowly.

"What do you want?" She hissed at me.

"Let me see that..." I said. She looked at me, then gingerly handed my her arm. I examined it carefully. If we removed the knife and didn't wrap it up, she might lose a little too much blood. I got an idea, and ripped the bottom of my top off, and held it in my lap. I then – slowly and very, very carefully – removed the knife from June's arm. I quickly grabbed the rag and wrapped it around the wound.

"That will have to do. Make sure to bandage it when you get home." I told her. I barely heard her whisper the words when I got up.

"If I _get _that far." I stood amidst the fighting. I saw Mandy kick Jasper in the face. I winced, and averted my eyes. Jeff was about to throw a punch at Sunny, put she caught his fist and pushed it back, and his shoulder cracked, probably dislocated. I found Aaron over by the pole that June had been shoved into. I tore off another piece of my shirt and handed it to him.

"Use this to clean it." I instructed. He did as he was told and winced as the pain got to him. Somebody kicked me in the back then, and I was shove into Aaron. I moaned in pain, then straightened up and turned to whoever it was. Of course, it was Taylor. Her eyes were black as coal. They matched her hair. She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me closer to her. Then she used her fist to shove my head back farther then it should probably go. I heard and audible crack and reached to rub my neck. It wasn't broken, but it hurt. Then she grabbed the inside of my knee and pulled it up and let go of my neck so I fell back and hit my head on the hard concrete floor. She slid her hand up my calf and held onto my ankle, swinging me twice before she let go, and I hit Jasper, who landed on top of Mandy. One of us – Mandy or I – cried out in pain, and I heard a crack and someone gasped. I rolled off of Jasper, who rolled off of Mandy. She was lying on the ground, motionless.

"Is she...?" I trailed off. Jasper reached out and put two fingers to her neck, where her pulse would have been.

"She isn't... but she's unconscious." He concluded.

"We better get out of here, now, then." I said.

"Your not going anywhere." Someone said. Taylor. Figures. She was always angry now. My head hurt like hell now. I lifted my hand gingerly to the back, afraid of what I might find. Of course. Blood. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing, my breath was coming out in little gasps, the kind you have before you start to cry or when your really... yeah.

"Alice?" Jasper asked me, he was closer to me now, and he was wiping the sweat from my face, but it kept coming and coming. I squeezed my eyes tighter, trying to will away the nausea. "Alice?" Jasper repeated.

"What's wrong with her?" Taylor asked.

"Alice?" June this time.

"Hey? You alright?" I must of looked worse than i felt – if it was possible – because even the people who didn't like me where starting to come to see if I was alright. That one was Jeff.

"She's been injured, in the back and now the head. She was never really alright. I think..." Sunny.

"I didn't mean to mess her up this bad, I mean..." Taylor.

"Alice?" Jasper.

I clamped my mouth shut tight, hoping I wouldn't puke on the almost dead body in front of me. I gave up on that and plain held my breath, which didn't help the wave of on-coming dizziness. My vision went dark, even when i opened my eyes. "Jasper?" I gagged after I said it, but held my lunch.

"Yes, I'm right here. Right here." He whispered to me, pulling my hair out of my eyes and holding me close to him. It was so hot – too hot.

"Let me go." I asked, weak.

"No, Alice, it'll be okay." He reassured me.

"I'm burning! Let me go!" I demanded. He let his arm linger but then pulled his arm away. I moaned, squeezing my eyelids together again.

"It's okay..." Jasper said.

"It's-" I stopped there and lost my lunch – in the most light way to put it – on Mandy. Everyone cringed. I leaned away from her and turned my head, gingerly got up and walked out. Sunny, Aaron, and Jasper followed me. They let us.

_Sunny_

It would be a light way to put it if I said I had a weak stomach. I swallowed loudly and followed the others as they left. I wasn't expecting them to let us leave... but they did. I think it was because Mandy was almost dead. They didn't want to be her. But when she got up and was angry...

"We better get out of here, quickly." I said. Alice nodded in front of me, hiding her face from the rest of us. Jasper was jumping around, trying to get a peek at her face, trying to make sure she was alright, but Alice kept moving her head around, and she was walking quicker too. Aaron held on to my wrist protectively, and he swung his arm back and forth easily.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked me.

"No, what makes you think that?" I replied.

"Alice doesn't look that good." He said, changing the subject.

"Yeah..." I agreed. He nodded. Alice sniffed, like she was crying. Which she probably was. Jasper grabbed her hand and held it, and her upper body was twisted to adjust to him holding her hand while she walked. She sped up, and we all had to speed up to keep up with her. We had been walking for about 15 minutes when I spotted the light ahead. I burst out in a sprint, and so did Aaron, but Alice stayed walking, and Jasper just stayed with her. We approached the light and realized it was a window. But it was an _open _window. I stuck my arm through it eagerly, making sure no random alarm would go off if I shoved my fat butt through it. No alarm went off.

"Guys! Guys! It's a window – it's open – we can go!" I shouted back at Alice and Jasper. Alice had her face down, making sure no one saw it, again, and Jasper was smiling all excited like at me, happy that I had found a way out. He moved in front of Alice – still holding her hand – and she twirled around in a circle so she didn't break her skinny little arm. He ran and she tumbled along after him, tripping over her converse covered feet. Jasper released Alice as soon as they got over to us, and he put his arm through the window too.

"Who's going through it first?" He asked.

"I will." I offered.

"Alright, bend your elbows – right – and Aaron, you put your hand on her elbow and lift her up, I'll get the other one." The window was much higher than my head. To stick my hand through it I had to go on my tippy-toes, as June might have put it. When she was younger. I bent my knees and Aaron and Jasper got me high enough that I could hook my knees out the window.

"Let go." I grunted. They obeyed and I pulled myself up off the wall so I was sitting in the open window. I twisted my body and slid so I fell right out of the window. I fell a few feet – obviously – but survived with only a few bumps and scratches. I laughed.

"You okay?" Aaron called from the inside.

"Yup!" I called back. I heard shuffling.

"Who now?" Jasper asked.

"Send Alice." I replied.

"No.. I'll go last." Alice said, her voice sounding hoarse.

"You won't be able to lift yourself through." I said. I heard her sigh and mutter the word fine, and I heard Jasper give her the same instructions he had given me. She got one foot through the window, but other than that nothing.

"Pull!" I told her.

"I can't!" She shouted back.

"Why not?" I asked, irritated.

"Don't fuss!" Jasper ordered, and we were both silent. "Now, I'll push her through, you try and grab her and pull her down." He told me. Alice made a noise that voiced her distaste but was otherwise silent.

"Er, okay." I agreed. I walked closer to the window and jumped to grab Alice's foot. I pulled while Jasper and Aaron pushed. She let out a squeal as her injured back and head scraped against the window, but she seemed fine. She didn't hide her face now. It was tear-stained and bruised. She fell out of the window and into the bush. I pulled her away from the window. She stood behind me by a tree.

"Okay, watch out." Jasper said. He launched himself halfway through the window, then he pushed out of it and landed on his back in the bushes. He bounced back easily, jumping up and going over to join Alice. He kissed her forehead. She didn't flinch, but she didn't look to happy, either. I sighed, and turned to the window, waiting for Aaron. He flung himself out the window – much in the same fashion as Jasper – and landed on his feet in the bushes. He rushed over to me, checking to see if I was okay.

"What now?" I asked when he was done. Everyone looked at each other.

"I guess, we go home." Jasper concluded.

_Alice_

"Where am I going to go?" I asked Jasper. We were sitting under a tree by the side of a deserted dirt road in Nashville, Jasper's hometown and, ironically, Sunny's. Sunny and Aaron were making phone calls.

"You're coming with me, we already discussed it." He answered.

"We did _not _discuss me going to live with you and your mum and your dad and your sister all of which will probably hate me." I said.

"They will not hate you."

"Will to."

"Will not."

"Will to."

"Will _not."_

"Will to!" I shouted.

"They will not hate you, and that's final." Jasper concluded.

"Fine, but take me to meet them, I want to meet them. Now." I added on the now when Jasper started to look doubtful.

"Alice..."

"See? I told you they'd hate me." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"No, it's not that, it's just -" I cut him off.

"What, do they embarrass you? At least you have parents. And a sister. I _think _I had a sister." I said to him. He frowned.

"Alright, if you insist." He said, rolling his eyes. He got up and I followed him, the aches from a few days ago slowly – if at all - were fading. I could still feel them now and then, but it wasn't as bad as before. I wondered idly if Jasper's family would care about the bruises covering my face. We walked, passing Sunny and Aaron as we did. I stopped to tell them where we were going.

"Going to meet the family, that's good. I told you that you would be perfect for each other." Sunny said while Aaron wasn't paying attention.

"No, Sunny. He can't love me. I'm just going along until he realizes." I said. Sunny made a face.

"Don't be an idiot, Alice." She told me, and turned back to Aaron. I sighed, rolled my eyes and went to catch up with Jasper.

We arrived at his house about a half an hour later. He just walked in, just like that. It was his house, after all.

"Mum, Cherry, Dad!" He yelled. Two people came down the stairs. They seemed older, so I assumed that was his Mother and his Father. A girl came in from the kitchen.

"Ooh! Jasper, is that your girlfriend?" She asked. It must be Cherry, his sister. I assumed. I blushed a bit at her assumption. But it was right – was it not? Jasper smiled down at me and kissed the top of my head. I blushed harder, hiding my face with my hair. Sort of.

"Ooh! It is! It is!" Cherry clapped, her face showing how excited she was. She ran over to us and looked me in the eye. She was shorter than me by a half an inch. "I don't know, Jasper. Who made the first move, I mean – who kissed who first?" She asked. At first I thought she was kidding. But she wasn't, not one bit. Her parents didn't even stop her. Jasper was smiling a bit, looking at me as I looked at him.

"Is she... serious?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Completely." The both said.

"So?" Cherry asked again.

"He did." I answered. Cherry gasped.

"You never do!" She exclaimed. "You must be one very, very special girl." Cherry said to me, her voice low so that Jasper couldn't hear. "But if you even break his heart once... ooh, you'll get it." Then her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "So, Jasper, what's her name?" She asked, looking at Jasper.

"Alice." He answered.

"Alice." Cherry repeated.

"Don't wear it out." I said. Cherry and Jasper laughed, and their Mother and Father joined in.

"Why don't you all come and sit on the couch?" His mother suggested. Cherry nodded and bounced over to the couch. Jasper followed, with me in tow. We all sat on the couch, me in the middle of Cherry and Jasper. Jasper was still holding my hand. I felt like I was sitting in front of my boyfriend's parents, about to tell them that Jasper had gotten me pregnant. I laughed to myself, and Cherry eyed me curiously. I smiled at her and she raised her eyebrows and looked away.

"So, Jasper. You have a new friend, I see." Jasper's father started.

"Yes," Jasper said. "This is Alice." He finished. Suddenly, Cherry grunted.

"My hair is annoying me so much! My hairdresser sucks friggin' crap!" She shouted. Everyone turned to her. "What?" she asked. Everyone laughed, and we made small talk, for Cherry's twisted sense of humour kept the conversation light and bubbly.

We talked for a long time, probably until ten. Cherry yawned and announced that she was tired.

"Why don't you spend the night here, Alice?" She suggested. I glanced over at Jasper's parents, making sure it was okay with them first. They both nodded so I agreed.

"Okay, you can sleep in my room." Cherry and Jasper both said.

"No, she'll sleep in my room!" They both exclaimed. I bit my lip to keep from giggling.

"Give me on good reason she shouldn't sleep in my room." Jasper demanded, staring hard at his sister.

"How do we know you won't sleep _with _her?" She countered. Jasper gasped, I giggled. I must have been slap-happy. That wasn't funny at all. I wasn't _that _easy.

"You'll keep her up all night!" Jasper retorted.

"I don't mind staying up all night, it's fun." I said, but I was ignored.

"I won't keep her up all night, you will! You'll keep her up all night, badgering her about sex!" Cherry yelled. Jasper and Cherry's parents left, which gave me the hint that this happened often.

"I will not!" Jasper said. "You'll keep her up all night telling her about how much you _love _that new band!" He shouted.

"Fine! Why don't we let her decide?" Cherry suggested. They both looked at me, a silent agreement.

"I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings..." I said.

"Fine. Rock, paper, scissors." Cherry concluded. They went up to each other.

"Only one round, Cher. Alice looks tired."

"Fine. Rock, paper, scissors!" She said, and they duelled once, and Cherry won. "Yes! I win! C'mon, Alice!" She shouted, and she grabbed my wrist and towed me upstairs. I glanced back at Jasper, and his sad face. I smiled, trying to make him feel better. He just shrugged, and went to the kitchen.

Cherry fell asleep as soon as she hit the mattress. Literally. She yawned and started snoring lightly, then louder. It was around midnight now, and her snoring had become so loud I couldn't sleep, and I was really, really pissed in the morning if I didn't get my sleep. I sighed one more time and lifted myself from the carpeted floor of Cherry's bedroom. I figured – with the extremely loud snoring and stuff – that Cherry was a heavy sleeper. I was right. I shut the door behind me as I left. I found Jasper's bedroom and hesitated, my hand on the doorknob. I decided against it and sank to the ground in front of his door. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

I was awoken when the door open and my leaning figure fell through the door.

"Ow." I murmured, leaning back up and rubbing the back of my head.

"Alice?" Jasper asked, my name rolled off his tongue familiarly, but it still sent chills down my spine.

"Mmm?" I said, not completely awake yet.

"Alice... what are you doing?" He asked.

"Mm... Sleep." I answered, and I curled up by his feet, closing my eyes and smiling. I heard him sigh as he bent down and picked me up. "Mm, Jasper?" I asked.

"Yes, Alice. I'm here." He carried me into his room and set me on his bed. I stretched out, yawned, then returned my position into that of a tiny child. "You are adorable, do you realize that?" Jasper said to me.

"Mmhmm," I murmured. The bed moved slightly as he got back on it and lied down next to me. He put his arm around me and I smiled, cuddling closer to him. The last thing I heard was Jasper – my Jasper – tell me goodnight.

I woke up in the same place I had fallen asleep, but I wasn't greeted with the walls I had fallen asleep looking at, I was greeted by black Garage skinny jeans.

"Did you?" There was obviously already a conversation going on between Jasper and her.

"No, how many times do I have to tell you? I did not sleep with her." Jasper said.

"She looks happy – or she did." Cherry replied.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jasper asked.

"I've seen plenty of movies." Cherry said.

"And the girl always looks happy after the one-night stand sex scene." Jasper said.

"Yes! Jasper, did you sleep with Alice?" Cherry repeated.

"Ask Alice if you don't believe me." Jasper said.

"She's asleep."

"No she's not." Was I that easy to read?

"Are you sure?" Cherry asked.

"Positive, ask her something." Jasper said, moving his hand a little up and down my stomach, I smiled. "See?" He said.

"Uh-huh." Cherry replied. "Alice, did Jasper get you pregnant last night?" She asked. I opened my mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"Cherry, don't be a bitch." I said. She backed up.

"That's a no." She said, and left. I laughed hysterically for a few minutes, I don't know why, though, and since I had fallen asleep in my clothes, I went downstairs for breakfast. Jasper followed after he got dressed. He sleeps in pyjamas. He was embarrassed, but I thought it was cute. Adorable, really. Cherry was in the kitchen, as was her mother. I assumed her father was at work. My assumption was correct.

"Good morning, Alice. Sleep well?" Her mother asked, oblivious, it seemed. Cherry winked at me. Apparently, to the parents, I had slept in Cherry's room all last night.

"Yes. Cherry was very welcoming. She made the floor feel like one big mattress." I lied smoothly.

"That's nice." She replied, and went back to making us all breakfast. I sat down at the pretty glass table, straight across from Cherry.

"You didn't tell her?" I whispered. She smiled slyly.

"I _do _have an older brother, you know. But, when you guys _do_, don't expect me to lie when my mother asks me what the hell is all the noise is up there. Because, you know, Jasper has an awfully old bed." I blushed. She smiled, smug.

"But you know, I'm quite the traditional girlfriend." I replied.

"Oh, C'mon. That's no fun at all!" Cherry whined. I laughed, and ate my breakfast as soon as it was served. I was really hungry.

As the day progressed, I began accepted. Cherry and I watched _My Sisters Keeper, _Jasper and I went for a walk in the park, and I helped Sherry – his mother – cook dinner. I learned that Cherry got her name form her mother and father's names combined. Sherry and Chance. So, Ch plus Erry equals Cherry. Easy. Cherry loved her name, and loved cherries, too.

As night fell again, a knock came on the door. Jasper answered, inviting Sunny and Aaron in. Now that everyone was here, it felt as if nothing could go wrong. That is, until the window broke, and blood was spewed everywhere. Someone grabbed my throat.

"You better keep quiet, or I'll kill you." The voice said, no one I recognized. I just moved my head up and down, willing him to _not _kill me. He then shouted some instructions at the other people. I knew, some of my friends were bleeding, possibly to death, but all I cared about was not dying so I could save them.

"Haal de anderen en we hier weg buste. We kunnen het ons niet veroorloven om hier te verblijven deze lange - NEE! niet de kleine meisjes, de jongen, de blonde jongen! Zijn naam is Jasper!" I knew they were going after Jasper. I fought the man until he released me. He grabbed me back and stuffed me in a bag. Seriously. He poured liquid into the bag and it trickled into my mouth and down my throat without my consent. Everything was suddenly spinning, I hear Jasper yelling for me. I didn't care. I smiled and possibly threw up before I blacked out.

**That was probably one of my longest yet. I see that sometimes you don't answer the questions I ask. You might answer some, but really. I don't just randomly ask these questions, you know. The one about which character would you be was because I wanted to see who you would be and why so I can see if I'm getting the right picture in your tightly inclosed brains. JK. The song questions, like which song is your favourite right now. I look at music for inspiration, which is why I ask this question. Overall, every question is important, so do your best to answer them when I ask them, please. Thank you!!! **

**Paramore-Fan**


	4. She's my best friend

**I was just wondering... Do the people who review the first chapter continue reading the story? Because I know I had some people review the first chapter and never review the next ones. Just wondering, thanks to everyone who reviewed, you keep my writing! Oh, and for random updates and stuff, I got myself a twit-ter (lol) under the name Paramorefansays because the hi wouldn't fit. Thanks... Chapter four: I don't own. (I know, I do disclaimers randomly.) **

_Alice_

So maybe I didn't throw up, but the guy _did _throw some chunky liquid in there. Apparently, it was some sort of soup. I mean, whatever language they're speaking, I didn't speak it. They dumped me behind a cage. A cage – a real one – with some other dead person. I couldn't speak. I mean, whatever liquid they had managed to make me swallow had really made my mouth sticky. I couldn't even open it. Yet. I could get two fingers between my lips, and I suddenly wished I still had the gap in my teeth I had had when I was ten. I pried my lips apart, and they started bleeding, but that helped with all the sticky-ness because it got my teeth wet and it unglued them. I opened my mouth and tried hard not to take a gasping breath. I didn't want them to notice I had gotten my mouth open, did I? I swallowed and tasted blood. I gagged a little but kept down my stomach. How many times was I going to throw up? I leaned against the back part of the cage and sighed. I heard voices approaching and I shut my mouth, hoping it wouldn't stick again. This time they were speaking in English.

"Listen, boy. If you cooperate, we'll let your little girlfriend go." They had Jasper. _Shit. _I cursed myself.

"Just let her go now! Look at her, she's miserable." Jasper said. Why did he sound so calm?

"That's the point. We'll torture her until you give us the answers we want." He said. My eyes grew wide with fear.

"You won't!" He gasped.

"I will." The man replied. A chair squeaked against the floor and I tensed against the back of the cage.

"Come here..." The man cooed. I squeezed myself even farther into the corner, and he unlocked the cage and put his hands in, pulling my out like a frightened kitten. I whimpered, not wanting to be held by this stranger. He placed me in a chair and grabbed a rope, tying me to the chair tight. I knew already that I would _never _be able to get out of this position. He picked up an spray can and shook it up.

"What is that?" Jasper asked.

"It'll un-stick her lips." He explained. I opened my mouth then.

"I don't need it." I said. He made a face but put the can down and picked up a different one. Jasper watched him cover and stand in front of me.

"Inhale this." He directed me, and he sprayed it in front of my face. I sniffed in a whole bunch through my nose. "More." He said, and he sprayed more, and I inhaled with my mouth this time. I closed my mouth. "We can start now." He said. I winced, and Jasper stood up.

"Don't hurt her..." He whispered. Then he sat back down and waited.

"Let's begin..." The man started, and I looked at Jasper as he looked at me. If he didn't say anything, I would die. If he _did _say something, who knew what would happen? "Now. Where did you hide the money?" Of course this was money. Everything with men was money and woman. With girls, it was more complicated. Whatever. I watched Jasper. He hesitated. He opened his mouth a few times, every time he did he would close it again.

"I... I don't know." He answered.

"I know you know." And he took a step closer to me, raising a hand. Jasper watched silently. I watched the mans hand, waiting for it to make contact with my cheek.

"I don't know!" Jasper shouted this time. I moved my head instinctively as the mans hand came down and whipped across my face. I gasped, holding back tears. I didn't want Jasper to think he had to tell the man everything. If he did, we could all die. I longed for Sunny, wishing she were here. Actually – I take that back. I was very glad she wasn't here with me now. I whimpered a bit and wished I could keep my breathing under control. Jasper looked conflicted greatly.

"Let's try this again, but different." The man said. Was he planning on narrating this whole thing? I think he's watched a little too many action movies.

"Where is your home? I'm sure some of your _buddy's_ will be hiding out there." The man said. Was Cherry involved in this? I looked at Jasper. He must have seen it in my eyes. He nodded. I gasped a bit. "What – do you know?" The man asked.

"She doesn't she's never been there. Have you?" He asked. I was a terrible liar. Why me?

"Er – no. Never." I lied. The man looked sceptical, but he went back over to Jasper.

"So?" He asked.

"I'm not letting you near my family." Jasper replied.

"Okay, but little girl over here pays for it." I closed my eyes, expecting another slap, but I heard Jasper whisper something about a baseball bat. I remember when I was 5 my mother signed me up for baseball, and this boy would always hit me over the head with his bat because he liked me. This impact was much worse. Behind it was muscle and experience. It hit me in the back of the head and made my head jerk forward. I gasped again, and sniffed as a few tears escaped my eyes and trailed down my face. My ears felt like they were bleeding – they weren't – and my head was killing me. I felt dizzy, like I had just got hit in the head with a basketball. My breathing was uneven, my body reacting to this torture with tears. Jasper stared at me, all emotion had disappeared from his face.

"Where is it?" The man asked.

"I don't... I – I..." Jasper was staring at me, emotion returning to his face as he did. I moved my head slightly to the side.

"I don't know." He said. This time was worse. He stood in front of me and ducked down so he was at my ankles. He grabbed my foot and twisted it backwards. I screamed in agony. Jasper jumped up.

"Get down or I'll break her leg!" He yelled. Jasper immediately sat back down. "Where's your hideout? Where is the meeting spot?" The man asked, getting up close to Jasper's face.

"We don't have one. Of either." The man reached into his back pocket and flipped out something silver. He turned on his heel towards me and I recognized the object. A knife. He put it on my hair line, using barely any pressure. Then, he pressed so hard it dug into my skin, then he slowly dragged it across my hair line. Blood spooled on my top lip, and spilled over. I screamed out and thrashed against the ropes.

"Don't!" Jasper ran up and tried to grab the knife out of his hand. The man turned on him and threw the knife at him. It cut across his arm and then the man bent down and bent my foot up. It didn't break, but it hurt. Like hell. I sucked hair, trying to scream, but nothing came out. I cried and breathed unevenly, gasping and spitting the blood that had gotten into my mouth. I was shaking, probably going into shock. I was covered in sweat and blood, and I was shaking. Jasper's arm was bleeding but he didn't sit back down. He fought with the man, trying to get him down because he had the knife in his hand. He struggled, but eventually he got the man backed up against the wall. He pressed him up further and put the knife to his neck. I stopped paying attention, but I heard the screams and the sickening gurgles. The man was dead.

Jasper used the knife to untie me, but I really wasn't paying attention. I was shaking to hard. He grabbed me out of the chair and hugged me to his chest and I cried into it. He tilted my head up so I would look at him.

"Sh, it's okay now, it's okay." He cooed, trying to soothe me.

"What – what was he talking about?" I asked, still shaking and crying and bleeding.

"I used to sell drugs. He's been after me, figuring I would tell him. He's crazy I know it's not safe. Cherry, I told her. She's my sister. It sounds strange... but we tell each other everything." He was holding me up now because I had lost my balance on my left leg. The one that had the foot the man had inured. He looked down at me again, and we both stopped breathing. I think. Then he put his lips on mine. The kiss was so much better than the last one. It made me even dizzier. His lips moved in synchronization against mine, our tongues fighting for dominance. I gasped for breath, but he did too. His lips closed on mine and opened again, my hands twisted in his hair and his hands exploring my body. He had his hands on the small of my back when I fainted in his arms.

_Sunny _

"What the fuck just happened?" I asked Aaron.

"Don't know." Aaron groaned from somewhere next to me.

"It smells... sweet." I said. It smelt like flowers. Flowers... now where have I heard that before?

"It does." He sniffed the air. I heard it.

"It's... pass gas." Aaron laughed.

"That's what my mom called it when I was little. It makes you pass out. Temporarily die. But your heart still beats." I said. "Oh, and you breath." I added.

"Mhm, Sunny. I love you." He told me.

"It also makes you giddy. Don't trust yourself with words." I said.

"I'm not lying." He said, getting defensive. I stretched out, then moaned because it hurt so much and I was stiff from lying here for... wait. What time was it?

"Aaron. Aaron! What time is it?" I asked, suddenly panicked.

"It's... 11:00pm. Why?" He asked.

"Fuck! Where the hell are Alice and Jasper?" I asked him. He flipped up over the couch and I got up slower. He ran around the house quickly. I ran upstairs to check there. Nothing. I ran back down to meet Aaron downstairs.

"They're not here." We both said. "Wait – where's Cherry and everyone else?" I asked.

"They're in the kitchen, still out cold." Aaron told me.

"Maybe Alice and Jasper will be coming back soon. Let's go outside." I suggested. I ran out the front door and Aaron followed me. Luckily, it was late and they were already on there way back. I spotted them first. Jasper was carrying Alice, and she was covered in blood and sweat.

"Jasper, what happened?" I yelled, running over to them.

"I – I don't know we were – and she fainted." He said, looking in her face.

"You were what?" I asked. He narrowed his eyes. "Jasper. Just tell me and get it over with. If you don't tell me then I'll just think it's something even worse. Wait – don't tell me you like, did it with her." I said.

"No! She – she wouldn't like that. We just kissed." He said.

"Ah. Was she dizzy before?" I asked.

"I – probably. He hit her over the head with a bat."

"What!?" I screamed. Aaron was hovering again.

"I couldn't let him know where all of you were!" Jasper defended himself.

"Yes, you could've! One person against 5! I think so!" I exclaimed.

"He has many, many other people. We are both lucky to get out with our lives." He said gravely.

"Ugh. Let's go inside." I said.

We headed inside, all of us – including Cherry because she refused to be left out after she woke up – and we sat in the living room. Cherry and Jasper's parents went upstairs. We laid Alice on the table after covering it with blankets and pillows. Jasper was kneeling by her head, stroking her hair and keeping his head by hers. It was a little awkward for everyone.

"She's gonna be okay, right?" Cherry asked.

"Nobody knows, Cher." Jasper spoke up.

"But she _has _to be okay." Cherry insisted.

"Nobody has to be okay. We just have to hope they will be." Aaron said.

"Everybody take a moment of silence and pray to fucking god that Alice will survive." I said.

"I'm sure god appreciates you swearing, Sunny." Cherry said, then we all bent our heads down and everything was silent. For a moment.

"Ugh... Jasper?" Came Alice's whispered voice. Everyone shouted her name at once but Jasper shooed them all away as they tried to crowd around her. He let me come to her. Because unofficially, we were best friends. I would have to ask her about that.

"Alice. It's Sunny and Jasper. Sunny... Jasper... Alice?" I whispered.

"Sunny. G'morning." She said. I giggled a bit because it was eleven at night.

"C'mon Alice, let's get you cleaned up." I said, and I grunted as I lifted her off the table and carried her up to the stairs. Jasper got up and started to follow us. "Excuse me, but where do you think _your _going?" I asked. He stopped and opened his mouth.

"I was going with you." He said, pausing, confused.

"Tell you what, Jazzy. When you have sex, you can see her naked whenever the hell you want." I said, and walked up the stairs. I heard echoes of laughter behind me.

I got Alice upstairs and into the tub thing. I mean it was a tub... but bigger. And it had jets. Which with Alice's condition... I think it would be real stupid to turn those on. I also thought Alice might drown in it. Not because she's hurt, but because the tub was humongous compared to her small frame. I started the water.

"How hot?" I asked.

"As hot as it will go. I'm freezing." As if to show her point, she shivered. I turned up the water so it was warm and gradually got hotter so I didn't burn her skin. She sighed in pleasure and I watched the water turn from clear to reddish-brown. I used my hands to work what I assumed was Cherry's shampoo in her messy hair. I didn't bother washing her body. I just conditioned and shampooed her hair, then rinsed with the shower.

"Cherry! Get me some clothes!" I yelled to her. I heard her come stomping up the stairs. She ran past the bathroom to get some clothes from her room she tossed them through the open door. "Those are the largest I have because I know she's a little bigger than me." Cherry mentioned.

"Stop talking like I'm not here." Alice said. Cherry and I laughed, and Cherry ran back downstairs.

"Feeling better?" I asked her.

"Yes. But I need someone to wrap up my ankle and foot." She told me.

"Alright. I will." I said to her. It was silent for a long minute as we watched the dirty water drain.

"Sunny...?" Alice asked me.

"Yes?" I asked her as I helped her step out of the tub with the towel hung under her armpits.

"You know, your my best friend." She told me.

"And you know what, Alice? I was thinking the same damn thing."

It had been one hell of a day – er, night, and all we really needed was some well deserved sleep. The way we were set up was wonderful. We had moved the table out from the living room and set up one big bed big enough for the 5 of us. I slept between Alice and Aaron. Alice slept between me and Jasper. Cherry was on the end next to Jasper, and Aaron was on the end next to me. I fell asleep smiling. Something I didn't do often.

I awoke sometime in the middle of the night to Alice shifting and her and Jasper talking.

"...I do, it's just different." Alice murmured.

"I know, but you really do? We haven's that." Jasper whispered back.

"I'll ask Sunny about it... she probably has more... experience." Alice said.

"Your sure she won't think it's awkward?" Jasper asked.

"She's my best friend." I fell asleep again, thinking everything was just a dream.

**So sweet. So sweet. :) I meant to make it longer, but you guys probably wanted it sooner than later. I promise I'll get the next one up sooner, or later. Haha. Oh, and of course it's not over! I mean, I'm not leaving you with some random conversation that has no end! **


	5. If We All Lost What We Needed Most

**Sunny swears a lot. Please excuse me if there's mistakes in this. My right arm is numb. I'm serious, it is. **

_Sunny_

I woke up and stretched, causing a chain reaction to ripple down our little sleeping-line. We all woke up, yawned, and stretched out, some of us even got fists in the face. I rolled over onto Aaron by accident.

"Sorry dude." I muttered, and I rolled right off of him into a shelf. "Oh – ow." I said. I got up, stiff from the lack of moving space and the fact that I had fallen asleep in my ugly(they were only ugly because I was in a morning mood) jeans, which made my muscles tighten if I wore them to long. "Anybody have a tooth brush I can use?" I said.

"Ew, Sunny, why would anyone let you use their toothbrush?" Alice asked me, watching my face with a disgusted look on her face. I wish I didn't have such a stupid high voice. Then I could talk and people would listen.

"Ah, because I'll punch them if they don't." I said. Alice laughed, making my 'wish I had a lower voice' point even clearer. "I will, Alice. Believe me." I warned her.

"Oh don't be so grumpy, Sunny. Here, I have an extra tooth brush. Cherry got up and ran upstairs to the bathroom, and I followed her. She threw an unused purple toothbrush at me and grabbed her own. We brushed our teeth and then I hopped up on the counter and picked up a brush to brush my hair with.

"Sunny, what do you think of Jasper and Alice together?" Cherry asked me a few minutes later.

"Why?" I asked.

"Just wondering..." Cherry lied.

"Your not just wondering." I said.

"Oh... well, I don't know. It's just... different. They're total opposites. It doesn't make sense."

"Nothing that makes sense ever works out, Cherry. And I think they kind of... complete each other, you know?"

"No, not really, but thanks." And she left. I finished brushing my hair and headed back downstairs. There was laughing, and I flew into the living room and plopped on the only empty chair.

"But, seriously I think I need a cane." Alice said, wobbling with all her weight on one foot. Jasper was the only one who wasn't laughing. He must've thought that this was his fault. It wasn't. I think. Alice giggled and fell to the floor laughing, everyone laughing with her. Jasper sat still in his spot, unmoving.

"Oh, Jasper, lighten up!" I exclaimed, exasperated. I rolled my eyes and Jasper stared at me, a sarcastic look on his face.

"What are we doing today?" Cherry asked.

"I don't know." Alice said. "We should do nothing." Jasper and her locked eyes for a second, then Jasper glanced at me and looked out the window when he realized I was looking at him. I was suddenly convinced that last nights 'dream' wasn't really a dream.

I have no idea how she did it, but she got me alone. Here I sat, in the empty kitchen, with Alice sitting across from me. I sighed – probably the fiftieth time now – and played with the lip stuff I had in my hands. Everyone else was outside with Cherry. How old was she? Oh yeah, fourteen, and yet she still had all the nineteen year old's following her around like she's five and she has a knife in her hand. Alice echoed my sigh.

"So..." I said.

"So..." Alice echoed.

"I heard you wanted to talk?" I said, stretching and leaning back against the back of the chair. Much like my father used to do.

"Yeah. I just – I just had a few questions." She made a face, rubbing sweat off her forehead and shifting like she was uncomfortable.

"You don't have to be so nervous." I commented.

"I'm not." She answered, blinking slowly, like she was tired. She rubbed her eyes and wiped away sweat again.

"Your not? Are you okay?" I asked, getting worried now.

"I – I'm, no. I don't feel good." She said, getting up and trying to walk, but she stumbled, appearing dizzy.

"Alice, what's wrong?" I demanded.

"I – I don't know." She said. I had gotten up and she had one of her hands on my shoulder and I was using both of mine to support her. "You know something, Sunny?" She asked, giggling.

"I know everything, Alice."

"Oh, so then you already know." Alice said, smiling.

"No, I don't know." I said.

"Oh, well. I'm going to be sick!" She yelled, and she dashed over to the sink and possibly puked out her guts. I stood over by the glass table. She turned to me, and their was blood flowing steadily down her face from her nose. "There is... some things I haven't exactly told you about."

After she cleaned herself up, I brought in Jasper. She said that the others could find whatever it was out later. I argued with her about that, but in the end, she won. She always did.

"What is it?" Jasper asked, worried. He sat on the couch, next to me, and Alice sat on the chair by herself.

"Alice just puked blood. So, she decided to tell us why the hell she did." I said.

"Oh."

"Yeah, so, Alice, begin. What's this all about?" I asked, trying to get her to start.

"When I was little, I had a disease. Sort of." She started.

"Sort of?" I asked.

"Okay, so not sort of. I had a disease. Cancer." She told us. My face hardened, but I attempted to hide it.

"What kind of cancer?" Jasper asked. Alice took a deep, shaky breath.

"Leukaemia."

"Wouldn't that mean that you still had it?" Jasper asked.

"I suppose. I'm not really sure. It relapsed twice. I'm lucky. Extremely. But when I did have it, I used to always throw up like that. It's how my mom could tell if I was relapsing. Mandy... she always blamed me about it. Told me it was because I didn't take care of myself. I tried so hard..." She trailed off.

"Please tell me it's not relapsing." Jasper said.

"I don't know. I'll have to see a doctor, but I doubt it would relapse now – of all times. I haven't seen a sign since I was 13." Alice said, closing her eyes as if she were trying to calm herself.

"Bruises. Doesn't it usually have unexplained bruises?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know." Alice answered, her voice hard. "I was twelve. I was worried. I didn't care. I just wanted to get better." She said, her voice hardening more with each sentence.

"Here, let me see, I'll check if you have any bruises." I suggested.

"Fine." She said. I walked over to her and she got up, Jasper also did, and they traded spaces. Alice lied down on her back on the couch. I felt really awkward at the moment.

"Why don't you do it?" I asked Jasper. He didn't argue, he just got up and walked over to her. I left, feeling even more awkward then before. I went upstairs and into Cherry's room, where she had her own computer. I switched it on, glad that Cherry's parents had swung for the fast kin of internet instead of dial up. I hate dial up. I sighed and waited. Cherry's screen came up with a password page. I took a wild guess at her password and got it correct. I knew that if I had a brother, it would be mine to. Her password was .. I guess we girls with brothers were all the same.

I went on the internet an to Cherry's home page which was - incidentally – Google. I typed in what I was looking for. I clicked on a link and scrolled down until I found the information I was looking for.

The survival rate for leukaemia was only 43 percent.

_Alice_

I knew that there were bruises on my back. These ones were from my cancer. I knew that. I didn't need Jasper to tell me this. But he did, anyways. He went on and on about how he wished I had told him sooner, how he could've helped me if it ever relapsed, which, he was convinced it was. To be honest with myself, I would say it seemed like it was coming back as well. Had this ever happened to anyone before? Not seeing it for over 5 years and then _poof, _it's back to ruin your perfect life? I hope not, because I would not wish this torture upon my worst enemy. Spitting up blood was my least favourite part. I hated vomiting, I mean, who doesn't? But throwing out what your body should need most is just wrong. I closed my eyes because they were hurting and listened to Jasper babble on about how we could try and fix my leukaemia. I sighed and thought of all the things I'd miss if I died.

_Jasper_

Alice had leukaemia was the only thought that ran threw my usually crowded mind. I kept babbling on about ways to help fix it, but I knew that Alice would probably not live. Most people that live with leukaemia for so long die when it relapses again. Alice was nineteen. When was she diagnosed?

"Alice, when were you diagnosed with it?" I asked her.

"When I was five. It relapsed when I was seven and when I was ten, then the last time when I was twelve." Alice said

"Oh." I replied. Alice sighed. She didn't like being taken care of like this.

"We should probably go to the doctors..." She said.

"Oh, yes that would be good." I said. I reached down to pick her up but she turned to me and scowled.

"I'm not disabled. I can walk, thank you." She said, and she got up off the couch and I walked behind her warily, following her out of the front door. She got in the passenger side of my car – the one I had unlocked – and looked at me, waiting for me to get in. The others, who were currently playing basketball, all looked at us as we passed. Cherry stood near the car as it pulled away. She put a hand up, telling me to stop. I did and rolled down the window.

"Where are you going?" She asked, her voice innocent, not worried at all.

"Nowhere, Cher." I assured her.

"Well you don't need a car to go nowhere. Where are you going? Dare to lie to me and I'll kill you." She threatened.

"Cher..." I said.

"I am not a child anymore, get used to it." She said.

"We're going to the doctors. We think that Alice might have had a ... relapse." I told her in a hushed whisper.

"A relapse of _what, _Jasper?" Cherry asked, more rightfully worried now.

"Cancer. Leukaemia." I told her. She backed away from the car, her mouth hanging open suggestively. I tried to smile at her, but the attempt wasn't even half-hearted. I pulled out of the driveway and onto the highway.

_Sunny_

Jasper and Alice now only slept in the living room for one reason. Alice is having another relapse, and it is bound to be her worst yet. She is throwing up almost like she's scheduled to do so every five minutes, and it's pretty much impossible to sleep because I could hear it from Cherry's room, where Aaron and I were sharing a bed. Alice was getting bruises on her back from nothing, and she was losing weight. She was already small, but now she was weighing in at 60 pounds. Which is very, very bad for a nineteen year old. I had large bags under my eyes from not being able to sleep. I had gone three nights without sleep, and Aaron was getting worried about me. We were all worried about Alice, but everyone was whispering about Jasper and I. We were the most worried. Jasper stayed up all night with Alice, and I stayed up all night waiting for Aaron to fall asleep so I can sneak out and spend the night with Alice. Alice refused to act like she was sick, but the last couple of days she's been forced to. She has to stay in because she throws up so often and because she's so light some of us think she might get carried away with some of the harsher winds.

Two weeks ago, Alice lost another couple of pounds. She now weighs somewhere around 40 pounds. She has also lost all her hair, and she's wearing a wig. Made out of _my _hair. I didn't want it, if she didn't have any. She keeps on living, keeps on laughing.

A few days after that, she moved into the hospital for regular treatments and chemotherapy. She still keeps on living, keeps on laughing.

Alice asked me to do her nails for her today. I asked her what colour she would like them. She said any colour but pink, because she didn't like pink. I never knew that. It is now my personal mission to find out everything there is to know about Alice. She has bruises on both of her arms now, and yet she keeps on living, keeps on laughing.

I had to go home, and Aaron caught me at the door.

"Sunny, are you alright?" He asked me.

"Yes."

"Is Alice okay?"

"For now."

"Sunny..."

"I'm sorry Aaron." I told him, sincerely. I was sorry for everything.

"No, Sunny. _I'm _sorry. I can't be with you when your like this. I'm gone." And he left.

**If I wrote anything longer than this it would ruin the effect. **

**Review.**

**Next chapter up soon.**


	6. A Story Told Through A Journal

**Thanks for the reviews, and sorry it took me so long on this one. Thanks to HyperPixiexoxo for reviewing because you helped with the inspiration here... **

_Sunny_

I stood transfixed in the doorway, not bothering to turn around and watch him leave. I heard the car we used to get here start and drive away. My first thought was how I was going to get anywhere now, but figured I could just tag along with Jasper, because our schedules were mainly the same. See Alice, go home, sleep, see Alice. And repeat. And repeat. I sighed and walked into the door. Cherry was sitting on the couch watching TV, pretending I wasn't entering the room.

"Hey there, Cherry." I said.

"Oh, hi Sunny." She replied. I sighed and sat on the chair that was near her. She looked at me then turned the TV off.

"What." She said. I think it was meant to be a question but it didn't sound like one.

"Oh, nothing, just that my boyfriend of 5 years just dumped me." I said.

"Sunny!" Cherry exclaimed. I wasn't sure what it meant. I felt so numb, and everything was unfamiliar. She jumped off the couch and grabbed me, hugging me tight. The last person I hugged was Aaron. My parents hadn't even hugged me before! They hated me. I let Cherry hold me as I sat there, confused.

"Life was so much easier in second grade." Cherry muttered into my shoulder.

"Yes... when guys had cooties!" I smiled a bit. Cherry laughed, and let me go.

"Are you going to be alright?" She asked, looking at me, concerned.

"Yeah, I guess so. But I wish I had my best friend here with me." I said. I heard a car door open and close and then another one open and close. Cherry watched with a confused look on her face.

"Who could that be?" She asked. Jasper was at the hospital with Alice, and Cherry's parents had disappeared to some foreign country. The front door opened and with a grunt Jasper carried Alice up the steps to the first floor.

"Alice!" Cherry and I both exclaimed.

"Hey!" She said back, and Jasper made his way to the couch and set her on it. "I heard," she started, "that someone wanted me here?" She asked, looking at us. I glanced at Cherry, with a sure question mark on my face.

"I've mastered the sport of hug and text." She said.

"What is hug and text?" Jasper asked. All the girls laughed.

"Jasper – hug and text is where you have your cell phone in your hand and then you hug your friend and text behind their back. Literally." I explained.

"Oh, okay." Jasper said.

"Well, I'm not going to sit here for three hours while you explain everything girl to Mr. Clueless over here so tell me what happened." Alice said, growing impatient. We all narrowed our eyes at Jasper.

"Oh. I'm leaving." He said, and he backed up the stairs carefully, and winked at Alice before he disappeared all together.

"Okay." Alice said, shifting slightly to get more comfortable. You think that looking at your bald black and blue best friend would be awkward. She was still wearing her wig that I had made, and I was slowly growing my hair back, and it wasn't really awkward. Nothing was between us, because we shared everything.

"Tell me!" She whined, obviously impatient. I sighed and began my story.

"I swear – as soon as I get better, I'll kill him!" Alice said, Jasper had come back downstairs to the sound of Alice's yelling. She was pacing and he was following her back and forth.

"I'm not going to just drop dead, Jasper. You can stop following me." She said. I'm sure everyone flinched a bit. She was the only one who thought she wasn't going to drop dead. We were all worried, me and Jasper especially. She raised her hand as if to run her fingers through her hair then dropped it again. She sat on the table and sighed.

"I just – ugh. I am so stressed out!" She shouted.

"Alice, it's okay. You can calm down." I said.

"No! Sunny, I can't! Me being sick is ruining everyone _else's _lives! This is _my _problem, do you hear me? _My _problem!" She screamed.

"We're here to help though." Cherry said.

"How old are you Cherry?" Alice asked suddenly.

"Fourteen..."

"Exactly! Your only fourteen. You shouldn't be worrying about your brothers girlfriend. You should be worrying about the boys _you _want to date. You should worry about what clothes your going to wear, you should worry about what your going to do this weekend. You should _not _worry about me, understand?!" She exclaimed. Cherry sighed.

"I suppose." She said, making a face.

"Cherry!" Jasper and I yelled.

"It's not her god damn problem!" Alice screamed. Everyone stared at her, shocked. "I swear to fricken' god! If you can't stop worrying about me, I'll commit suicide so there's nothing to worry about!" She smacked her forehead and sat back down.

"We can't not worry about you." I mentioned.

"Yes you can." Alice argued.

"No, we can't. Listen, if you want us to stop worrying about you, let us stay at the hospital with you." Jasper said. She sat down and thought.

"Uh – fine." Alice agreed.

"I'm coming!" Cherry shouted.

"No!" We all turned and yelled.

"Jeez, fine." Cherry said, jerking back. "Why not?" She asked.

"Because, you wouldn't like it." I told her.

"Who cares?!" She asked.

"We do, so stay here and watch the cat!" Jasper yelled.

"We don't _have _a cat!"

"That's the point!" Jasper yelled back at her. Cherry groaned and headed upstairs.

"When you get back, we're buying a cat." So we left Cherry home alone.

_Cherry's Journal _

_So with everyone's lives falling apart you'd think I'd forget about writing in my journal. Well, apparently not. So you'll never believe this, but Aaron broke up with Sunny. Seriously. She said that he said it was because she was always so miserable. But, on the other hand, why would he do that? Isn't he supposed to be there for her? Right? Well, I've only had one boyfriend, which is lame, and it was Austen Hallaway. He was always there for me, and we didn't even date for that long! And then you have Aaron and Sunny who have apparently been dating for 5 years, and Aaron just dumps her on the spot because she's having trouble dealing with her best friend dying in front of her eyes? Really? I think that Aaron dumped Sunny for a different reason... I'll keep you updated, just because when I'm 30 I want to look back and remember these people and what happened._

_Journal,_

_So it's been a week since my last entry and I've been asking Aaron questions, because, the boy has nerve. He came back. He said it was because he wanted to make sure I was safe while Jasper and Sunny were at the hospital with Alice. But one night, Sunny came back and he left. He went in the direction of the hospital in his stupid retro car from the 1900's. Sunny left again when Jasper came to pick her up. He looked really angry, so I think I might know why Aaron dumped Sunny. But I'm not writing it down or asking anyone about it yet, because frankly, I'm pretty sure that I'm right. And it scares me. _

_Journal,_

_3 days ago, Sunny and Aaron were in the kitchen, making me lunch like I was 5 and they were my parents that were going to go and get a divorce. I think that they though I couldn't hear them so they started talking. I heard some of the conversation but not all of it. This is what they said..._

"Aaron, she's going soon." Sunny said.

"I don't care."

"She's already got him."

"I'll get him out of the way myself, Sunny. I don't need your help."

"Why would I help you in the first place? Why would I risk her happiness, her _life _so _you _can be happy? Why would I do that?" Sunny shouted.

"Because you still love me." Aaron concluded.

"Don't be an ass hole now, Aaron. Just finish making Cherry her sandwich, and I _will _tell Alice."

_I have no idea what they were talking about. _

_At least I know that lying is wrong. Doesn't mean I'm not going to lie._

_Journal,_

_Aaron went to the hospital again tonight. Sunny had come home to look after me. I told her she didn't need to, that I would be fine, but she refused to let me stay home alone. I think it's from all the shit that's been going on lately. I wonder how Alice is doing though, haven't heard from her in a while. Sunny says she's been doing fine, she's just nervous because she has to go in for surgery in two months or so. I would be worried to, I mean, really. Sometimes I wonder why my parents combined their names to make mine. Cherry. I used to like cherries. Now I find them appalling. I always hate it when parents say 'oh, you used to like those so much' and you hate them now and they keep giving/making them for you. It's really annoying. I'm going to visit Alice tomorrow. Maybe since she's pretty much dead already she'll think I deserve to know what's going on. Jasper just came in, so now Aaron is the only one at the hospital. I think. I haven't seen Jasper yet, but I can hear his uneven footsteps. He's limping... I think I was right all along. _

_Journal,_

_Jasper was beat up bad! He had bruises all over his face and his nose was bleeding and so was his leg. I went to the hospital without permission. I drove their. I stole Sunny's car that she rented. They haven't caught me yet. Because I'm still here. Alice was crying so hard. Aaron was the one who beat up Jasper, telling him to leave Alice alone. She was screaming and shouting when Aaron started throwing punches. She was thrashing around but couldn't get up because while she was still asleep Aaron had strapped her to the bed. He is so, ugh. Indescribable. That's the word. When I got to the hospital Alice still was crying and shaking while Aaron (the bitch) was stroking her hair and telling her it was all okay, that they could be together now. I think he might be a rapist or a stalker or SOMETHING I don't know. He scares me, which is why I can't really write down what I did to him or what he did to me, but I'll try..._

"It's okay now, Alice, we can be together, it's okay now." Aaron said.

"Why...?" She was shaking so hard, it was scary. Why would they fight over her? She's sick as hell! She can't HANDLE this. Hell, someone healthy wouldn't be able to handle this!

"What are you doing to her!?" I screamed. I was extremely surprised that no nurses had come at all yet. The night nurses usually came, right? Guess not. But I don't know. They just didn't, which made it so much more easy for Aaron.

"Cherry.." Alice choked.

"What the hell are you doing here, kid?" Aaron asked.

"I'm here to see my friend." I said.

"Oh well. You've seen her, now I think you should go home before Sunny and Jasper get worried." Aaron said. Could Alice tell how fake he was? I think so.

"No." The word came out of my mouth without reason.

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. I. Am. Not. Going. Home."

"Well, we'll just have to send you home then, won't we?" He got up and walked over to me. He pulled back his fist and swung it at my face. I grabbed his wrist before his hand made contact and I pulled his arm down so he fell to the ground. Unfortunately, he pulled me down with him by twisting his hand around to grab my arm. I landed awkwardly on top of him, and he flipped over so he was on top of me and I was underneath. "The end comes for everyone..." He murmured.

"No! No! No!" Alice shouted. He had a knife in his hand from god-knows-where and he pulled it up. "No!" Alice yelled one more time, he turned to smile at her, and she thrashed her arms so hard that they ripped through the cloth that was holding them to the hospital bed, and she jumped at him. He shifted at the last moment to see her, and the knife went into her arm, and she fell limp next to him, and he pulled the knife out of her arm and stuck it into my leg. I screamed so loud it hurt. Then I blacked out.

_Journal,_

_Alice is going in for surgery tomorrow. I have to go to trauma therapy. I shake during the night and scream because I have such bad nightmares. I'm not allowed to go to school. If I think about it, I've pretty much missed half the school year anyways. My grade 8 year is screwed, I figure. My person thing that helps with my therapy, Juana, told me to keep a journal. I told her I already had one and she asked if she could read it. I was so fucking freaked out at the time, I just handed this to her. She read my entries from first grade where it was just basically 'hi journal it's cherry ok bye.' To my grade 6 entries where they got longer and more detailed about the changes I was going through all the way to my torturous down-hill ride from the 14 year old Cherry Whitlock. Juana said that she will have to check my journal every visit and that I should pretend she wasn't. Haha, that's funny, Juana. It's impossible to pretend you don't read this. I'll just try then. And don't tell anyone what I write, or I'll stab you. _

_Journal,_

_Hi Juana!!!!!!!_

_-Cherry_

_Journal,_

_Juana got really pissed at my last entry. I laughed my head off and she told me to fine a different psychiatrist thing. I was glad. I'm sure, after all, that she just wanted to get all up in my business. My new psychiatrist, Aylin, is really nice. She doesn't read my journal, and she's always ready to listen. She's really helping me now. My leg has just begun to heal. Alice has been in surgery for three days. Has there ever been a surgery that long? Is everything with my family/friends retarded? I think so. Aylin is only 20, just graduated from college with her degree. She's coming over to meet my family. I hate to admit this, but I don't think my parents are coming back. The funny thing is that I don't miss them that much. I love Jasper, Sunny and Alice. I know Alice is going to stick around if she's still here, because I know she loves Jasper with all her heart. Sunny might, too. I hope. Aaron actually went to jail because I told Aylin what happened and luckily, Sunny had a recent photo of him so the police could catch him. Everything is starting to get better, but it was before everything got worse, to. Aylin told me to sign my journal entries because then when I get older I'll remember how to personalize everything I do. I didn't really understand, but Aylin seems to be right about everything so..._

_Love, _

_Cher._

**Reviews, please. Next chapter will be up when it's finished! I've been really busy because I have at least projects due next Friday. Wednesday is my birthday, just in case you wanted to know. Ha. Of course you didn't want to know. I won't have time next Saturday or Wednesday to work on the next chapter so don't bite me. **


	7. Welcome Home

**Okay, so I was looking at some new Eclipse promotional photos. There's one with Dakota Fanning (Jane) and she looks like a paedophile, no offence. Just the smile... Really. Oh, and I'm considering getting a beta. Opinions?**

_Cherry_

Aylin knocked on the door and I flew down the steps to the front door. Jasper and Sunny were sitting in the living room, composing themselves. They were all really sad, and Jasper still looked really bad. He had bruises covering his face and cuts on his shins. I made him wear jeans so he didn't scare away Aylin. I didn't need to go and find another psychiatrist. Sunny had contributed 5 dollars to some random costume shop to buy herself a wig with some wig glue. It looked weird on her because I was either used to her being bald or having her long black hair that Alice now wore. Her wig was blonde and short. I swung open the door.

"Hi Cherry." Aylin said, waving and smiling, her melodic voice ringing in my ears.

"Hi there, Aylin." I said. I waved my hand, inviting her in. She stepped in and looked down at my feet. I was in my socks out of habit. We had carpets and my mother had always told us to take off our shoes. I realized then that since our parents were probably never coming back, Jasper would be man of the house until he went off to college. I didn't know what would happen to me. I'm sure that I wasn't old enough to live alone. Maybe Sunny would stick around. She didn't seem to be the college type.

"Do I need to take my shoes off?" Aylin asked.

"Er – whatever." I replied, and ran upstairs. Aylin pulled off her awesome knee-high boots and ran upstairs after me.

"Hello!" Sunny and Jasper both said. Creepy...

"Oh, uh – hi." Aylin said back, taking in the way Sunny and Jasper looked. Jasper looked beat up and fake, and Sunny looked beat up emotionally and fake. Worse than me, even. But really, my real feelings showed at night, which is why Aylin asked to spend the night. She wanted to observe me, and have a girls night in. Sunny was staying with me to. Jasper was... well, it's kinda obvious.

"So, your Aylin?" Jasper asked. Aylin nodded.

"Mhm." She said.

"Oh. So you've been, _helping _my sister?" Jasper asked. Aylin was more cautious now. She was a trained professional, and knew that picking a fight with a recently 'hurt' person was a bad idea, but she was also aware that being openly cautious and careful would only irritate the person more.

"Yeah, she's been pretty open lately. Right, Cherry?" Aylin said to me, and she glanced over at me, winking.

"Yeah, and Aylin is really nice and good at her job. I wish that we could still be friends later on." I said.

"We can, trust me Cherry." Aylin promised.

"Oh. So your being her friend instead of her psychiatrist?" Sunny asked.

"Yeah, I apologize if that's a problem, but it certainly helps Cherry, and I think my intentions are to help her." Aylin said, her voice hardening a bit. She had told me that threatening them would make it seem as if they weren't as helpless and useless as they seemed to be.

"No. It's not a problem if it helps Cherry." Jasper said, glancing at Sunny.

"Yes... if it helps Cherry..." She said. Her face showed that she was confused. "Something... is burning." She concluded.

"Oh!" I called out. "I was making something for dinner, I've never been a great cook!" I shouted, and I ran into the kitchen to fix whatever I was burning. I heard absolute silence in the other room. I sighed. Everything is so tense. Alice is getting out of surgery tonight, and it's been really hard on everyone. She might come home or she might stay at the hospital for a bit longer. Another thing we're all worrying about is if the cancer will really be gone or not. I yanked open the stove door and coughed as I was suddenly surrounded in smoke.

"Ugh. I will never cook again." I promised myself.

"What were you cooking?" Aylin's voice came from behind me.

"I forgot, and I don't think I'll be able to tell now." I said, turning to her and then back to fan away the smoke. She laughed a little and helped me fan away the smoke.

"They are really messed up." Aylin commented in a hushed whisper this time.

"Yeah... It's cause with all the crap going on with Alice and stuff, you know?"

"I do. My cousin had leukaemia once."

"Once."

"Yeah... she didn't get it again because she didn't make it the first time." Aylin stared off a bit, remembering.

"Sorry." I said.

"You shouldn't be sorry. In the most technical sense, we both have leukaemia through a family member or through someone you love, you know?" Aylin told me.

"Yeah..." I shut the stove and sighed.

"Sorry, we'll just have to order pizza or something."

"That would be great, except I'm lactose intolerant." Aylin informed me.

"Ah. Chinese, then?"

"Sounds great." She smiled.

_Jasper_

We ate some Chinese dinner with Aylin and Cherry. They were talking while Sunny and I ate in silence. They were talking loud enough for us to hear in the beginning, offering for us to join in any time. Later on, as they noticed we were to silent to even bother to listen, their voices got softer and softer until we couldn't hear them at all anymore. Cherry burped just then. I was always careful to remind her about things like that.

"Cher..." I said.

" S'cuse me." She said. Aylin laughed a bit and so did Cherry. I sighed. The phone rang and Cherry jumped up to answer it.

"Hello? Yes... She is? Great. Okay.... He does... She does too... They are.... Not long... Nope... I do.... Like a sister, yeah. Okay... Thanks! Yes!" She hung up the phone. "Alice is out, she's not awake yet, but they said we can go over!" She cheered. Aylin suddenly looked stiff, as if she were having a bad flashback.

"Well, what are we waiting for, come on!" Sunny shouted, and she danced up and grabbed mine and Cherry's hands, and off we went.

_Alice_

I was drifting in and out, and the dreams during the out sessions were... strange. My brain tried to shut down again, so I got ready for the next strange dream...

_I was sitting alone on a very, very tall hill. There were clouds that were moving abnormally fast and they were all different colours. _

"_Hello?" Someone familiar called. I closed my eyes and lied down. _

"_Hello?" The same voice called. I growled. Er – weird much? _

"_Hello? Anyone ho-me?" Another, different, higher voice called. They were singing._

"_No-o-o no one's home, I suppose." Another girl sang. _

"_Someone's home, I say." The first person said. _

"_How do you know, Jasp-ar?" The first girl sang. Jasper? Did she mean Jasper? _

"_Can you not hear her breathing? She must be sick!" Jasper said._

"_Sunny, why not check?" The second girl said. So the first girl was Sunny and the boy was Jasper. So the last girl must be Cherry? Maybe. _

"_A-ha! Look at the hair over the hill!" Sunny called._

"_Ah, it's long, blonde. Not who we are looking for." Jasper said. Who were they looking for. Wait a second, this is _my _dream, I can do anything. _

"_Who are you looking for?" I asked. My voice was soft and nearly silent, and I realized I must not have been in my own body. _

"_Ah, kind woman, we are looking for a little girl with the shortest hair you have seen! She has left us alone here and now we can't find her! She once had a poor disease but alas, she was saved, but she hasn't been the same since! She never listens or has fun, so you see. And so now we are on a mission to find the little girl inside her that has disappeared. Say... her name is Alice. Have you yet to see her?" The one who I could tell was Cherry now told me._

"_What do you mean? What does this mean?" I said._

"_Pardon?" Jasper asked._

"_No, no, no. When I was little, I had an imaginary friend Cherie. She had long blonde hair and, and she looked like I do. I'm Cherie! What the hell? Hey, come back! Come back!" They were walking away. "Jasper! Cherry! Sunny! Don't you recognize me at all?!" Someone sat on the ground next to me and shifted downwards, much like a bed did when someone sat next to you on it. The black, dark clouds hovered over me and thunder crashed over and lightning struck right next to me. I screamed and thrashed. Something was holding me down! "Help! Help!" I screamed and screamed..._

"Alice! Alice!" Someone was calling my name. I opened my eyes, gasping for air.

"She's up now? Good, Jesus, I thought she was having a heart attack! Can I trust you with her alone?" That was a nurse, I could tell.

"Yes..." Jasper said. His voice still had a hint of worry in it.

"Okay, but don't pull anything, boy." She warned. She winked at me before she left, but I was to shocked to notice. Jasper was holding me in his arms carefully. He looked down at me.

"Alice?" He asked me softly.

"G' Morning." I replied. He laughed softly.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I feel wonderful, thanks." I said.

"Really?" He sounded surprised, so I suppose he was serious.

"I'm alright, at least, for a girl who just came out of surgery... How long was I in there for?" I asked.

"Three days." Jasper replied.

"Three days! Holy crap, something must've been seriously wrong with me." I said. I hated how I sounded so fake. He was still holding me. It wasn't really awkward, but at the same time it was because I really just wanted to get up and jump up and down. Be spontaneous. Do _something. _I made a face.

"What?" Jasper asked.

"Um, I don't know." I said. I rolled out of his arms despite his attempts to catch me as I rolled away.

"Hey! Come back here you little... ugh." He grunted and crawled onto the bed after me. Moving and shifting to get away from him was awkward because I had one of those monitor things attached to my wrist as well as a needle...

"I have a fucking needle in my god damn arm!!" I screamed, looking down at my arm. Jasper doubled over laughing. "S'not funny!" I yelled. "Get. It. Out!" I screamed, and the nurse from before ran in.

"I thought you said I could trust you with her! What did you do?" She asked him.

"Nothing! She just has a fear of needles, that's it." Jasper said.

"Honey, are you afraid of needles?" The nurse asked me.

"Yes! I hate them, get it out of my arm!"

"Honey – I don't think-"

"GET IT OUT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Alright, alright hold on!" The nurse shouted. She ran over to me and un-fastened a bunch of little things and slowly pulled the needle out of my arm.

"Seeing that your healthy enough to yell and scream I suppose it was alright takin' that out of you. I think, that you should go home after the doctor sees you. I'll tell him your ready."

"You do that." I rolled my eyes.

"Respect your elders."

"Respect your youngsters, I'm your future." I said. The nurse gave a little _hmph _and left. "Ha ha." I whispered to myself, sitting up and playing with my nail. Suddenly, Jasper swung his arm around me and tipped my head up to look in my eyes. I let my mouth drop into a perfect O, then I closed and cocked an eyebrow. I could almost read his thoughts...

_Jasper_

Sexy. Even in a hospital gown she looked sexy as hell. I was holding her chin while she cocked and eyebrow at me. She seemed perfectly healthy, as if she hadn't just gone through a three day surgery. I just wanted to... No. She wouldn't want me to do that, not here, not now, maybe not ever. Speaking of, were we like... an item now? Together? Boyfriend and girlfriend? These questions ran through my mind as Alice continued staring at me questioningly. The door to her room opened and we both jumped. My hand jerked up and hit her nose.

"Ow..." She muttered, rubbing her nose.

"Sorry." I muttered back. She narrowed her eyes and I felt like two teenagers who had just been caught by the girl's parents while they sat on the couch doing things the girl had promised would never happen. I chuckled a bit at myself. I was being such a pervert. I frowned and thought while Alice and the doctor talked.

"Yeah, great..." Alice said, continuing the conversation I had missed.

"That's good, do you think you'll be able to go home?"

"Yeah." Alice replied, nodding.

"Okay, but I'll have to give you some medication in case you feel any pains in your abdomen..." The doctor said, fiddling in his pocket. He finally pulled out a bottle of pills and tossed it to Alice. He caught it in the air and handed it to me, instructing me to put it in my pocket. I obeyed and shoved the little bottle of pills into my pocket. Alice smiled.

"He's my pet." She said, patting my head. "Carries everything, comes in handy when I've forgotten my purse." She smiled.

"Aha, I think my wife has one of those too." The doctor said with a smile. Alice hopped up off the end of the bed and stumbled. I caught her and put my arm around her waist. She put her arm around my waist as well. Sunny and Cherry were outside waiting. They were not allowed in the room and they disliked the waiting room because it smelled like blood and drugs. Sunny hated the blood scent and Cherry hated the drug smell. I think it was because when she was younger she ran out in front of a car and I narrowly grabbed her out of the way, but then I got hit by the car. I had to go to the hospital and Cherry was really, really upset. She was only five and I was ten. She was allowed in the room, but it smelled strongly of drugs and it's affected her ever since. Alice and I walked out of the building after Alice had retrieved some real clothes.

"Alice!" Sunny screamed. Cherry stopped pacing and turned. They both ran at Alice and jumped up and hugged her. I moved my arm away from her but she kept hers around me, so I stood there awkwardly while she used her free arm to hug Sunny and Cherry.

"They let you out! Finally. Wait till we get home, and you can meet Aylin..." Cherry started.

"Who's Aylin?" Alice asked tilting her head to the side. I replaced my arm now that Sunny and Cherry had let go.

"Oh! I forgot you didn't know. Aylin is my psychiatrist!" Alice made a face and squeezed my side. I pulled her closer to me without realizing what I was doing.

"Cherry..." Sunny warned her quietly.

"Ah – um, Sorry." Cherry apologized.

"No, it's okay, let's go home so I can go and meet.... your psychiatrist..." Alice's voice seemed to be strained. I sighed. I would have to wait about another four hours until I could actually be alone with Alice.

When we got home, Aylin was still sitting right where we had left her. I wonder if it was a good idea to leave her here alone. I mean, I was sure she wouldn't steal anything, but still. Alice was still stuck to me like glue. She released me to go and sit on the couch. Sunny sat down next to her and Cherry sat in the chair. I sat next to Alice and she shifted slightly so she was closer to me.

"Sorry about that..." Cherry said.

"That's fine." Aylin coughed. She had obviously been sitting here in silence.

"This," Sunny gestured to Alice, "is Alice."

"Hi." Aylin said. Alice waved at her, but said nothing.

"Have we had dinner yet?" Cherry asked.

"No, you burnt it, remember?" Sunny reminded her.

"Oh yeah. Well, I'm hungry. Jasper, go make food." Cherry told me. I got up and walked to the kitchen.

"I know something I think you'll love!" Alice said to Cherry.

"What?" Cherry asked.

"It's like a dessert with mousse and everything and you know. It takes a bit to make so I should start now if you want me to make it for you..."

"Yeah, please!" Cherry shouted. She always acted so young whenever someone she could've lost comes back. Alice followed me the rest of the way into the kitchen.

"What's the dessert your talking about?" I asked her.

"I don't know." Alice replied.

"I thought you said..."

"You need to learn a lot more about me, Jasper." Her voice was still strained and angry.

"Apparently." I rolled my eyes.

"Yes. You'd figure by now, you would have taken some time to actually get to know me." She retorted. I had always heard that fights that couples had were over stupid things, and that you should just leave it alone and just try and calm down, but I couldn't help but bite back.

"Well maybe I was to busy trying to take care of my little sister." I spat.

"So you hire a psychiatrist? I'm sure everything's fine and dandy now, I mean, everything was just like crap when I was here. Then, I take leave and everyone gets better and everything's just _perfect. _Then I come back and _oh shit, _the disaster makes a reappearance." She said. She was facing the cupboards, clutching the counter. She was hiding her face from me.

"Maybe you _are_ the disaster!" I yelled. She was silent. I just stood there, fuming. I could hear Sunny say something in the other room.

"Go outside please." She told Aylin and Cherry.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"Fine then." The back door opened and three pairs of shoes stepped outside and the door slammed hard. A warning. We were silent for a few minutes more, although it seemed as if the few minutes were a few million years. I stared at her, watching her hands clench and unclench on the edge of the kitchen counter.

"When is your birthday?" She asked me.

"Why?" I asked her back. It didn't really matter.

"When is it?" She asked.

"It's June 24th, why?" She didn't answer. "Alice? Alice, what's wrong?"

"Me!" She shouted. She still had her face turned away from me. I moved and started to go over to her. She put up her hand as if to stop me and she took a step forward.

"Alice..."

"No. Don't tell me all the shit all the other guys piled up for me to try and make me stay." She said. Her voice was hard. I caught up with her and grabbed onto her. "Hey!" She exclaimed in surprise.

"And exactly how many 'guys' have you had?" I asked her.

"Tons." She replied, bragging. "And how many girls have you had?" She asked.

"One. You included."

"Seriously?"

"Very seriously." She opened her mouth to speak, and then ducked out of my arms. "Alice!" I was having trouble figuring out whether or not she was kidding.

"Stay away from me!" She yelled.

"Alice!" I complained. She ran upstairs and I followed her. She ran into my room and slammed the door. I heard the lock click. "Alice!" I banged on the door.

"Go bang someone else!" She yelled. "I mean something!" She corrected herself.

"I have a key!"

"No you don't, I stole it!" She yelled. I looked down at the key holder that was by the steps. _Perfect, _I thought. _The key to my room is gone. _Luckily, I knew an old trick to opening up the door. I stuck my longest nail in the keyhole and turned. The door creaked open.

"Alice?" I called. No one was in the room. It was eerily quiet. A chill went up my spine.

"Boo!" Alice yelled from behind me. She jumped up and landed on me, causing me to topple to the ground. She was on top of me. She scrambled to get up but I grabbed her. "NO! LET ME GO!" She screamed.

"Never!" I yelled back.

"Let me go or.... or I'll bite you!" She threatened.

"You wouldn't." I said. She bit my neck. "Ow!" I exclaimed, releasing her automatically. "What was that?"

"You feeling that?" She asked, and ran out.

"Oh, I'm feeling it alright." I muttered. Suddenly, there was a loud crash and Alice let out a short scream, echoed by a thud.

"Alice!" I yelled. I ran out of my room to see Alice at the bottom of the steps, lying face down. "Alice, Alice are you alright?" I asked her after I ran down the stairs. I flipped her over and stroked her cheek softly.

"I thought you hated me." She said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it feels like you do and it hurts. Worse than falling down the stairs."

"I didn't realize." I said, no sarcasm included.

"You never realize anything, like I would bet you don't even know what I'm thinking about right now."

"I'm not a mind reader, Alice. Sorry." I said.

"Be serious." She requested.

"I am being serious! I can't read your mind, so you'll just have to tell me what your thinking if you want me to know so bad!"

"Well I've never been much of an explainer – if that's even a word. I'm a little more of a show – er, you know?" She said. I was still kneeling next to her on the floor while she lied there, in the middle of my house.

"I suppose I understand..." I said, nodding. "Like a show person. You show instead of tell."

"Yeah. Showing is my forte." She stated.

"Well why don't you show me, then." I encouraged her.

"Well, I really don't know." She said, blushing a bit. What could be so bad?

"What?" I nearly begged. She laughed. No, she giggled. She kept on giggling, rolling around and generally acting as if she was only five years old. She slapped her knee several times. "Knee-slapper on that one..." I muttered, and she just kept on giggling. "Alice! What is it?" I asked her, trying to knock her out of her giggle-fit.

"I – I really," she giggled more, "I really like you." She went into full out laugh mode. I grabbed onto her so she was straddling my lap while I leaned against the stairs. She stopped laughing and stared at my face then looked up then back down. She stared into my eyes and just sat there. Waiting. For something.

"Alice...?" I said.

"Yes?" Her voice was soft and luscious now.

"Can I kiss you?" I asked her randomly.

"Only if you promise to kiss me like this..." She crushed her face to mine and my hands instantly went up to her back, holding her closer to me...

_Alice_

He had his hands on my back, squishing me closer to him. He moved his lips to my neck for a short second, giving me a chance to breath.

"Jasper..." I whispered. He didn't answer, just moved his lips back to mine. My hands unlocked from around his neck and stroked his chest. He shivered under my touch, and clenched his hands on my back. I caught his bottom lip in my teeth, and a strange noise erupted from his chest. Suddenly, the back door clicked open. I jumped up off of Jasper and sat down with my legs crossed, playing with my fingers. I had practised the get-into-position-in-case-someone-walks-in-on-you for when I watched videos on my iPod nano at midnight when I wasn't supposed to. Jasper, not so much. He was still lying against the stairs, gasping for air and licking his lips. I giggled at the last part. Sunny led Aylin and Cherry in and they all sat at the kitchen table.

"I ordered -" She stopped when she saw Jasper, then she glanced at me. "Dinner." She finished. She smiled at me.

"Yes.. That was probably a good idea." Jasper's voice was husky and thick. He glanced at me and quickly looked away. Nervous about sex? How adorable is that? I smiled and picked myself up off the floor. I dashed into the kitchen and sat in between two empty seats. There was a knock at the front door, and I figured that must be the guy with out food. Sunny went to get it and the scent of Chinese food wafted up from the foyer.

Later, after dinner everyone flocked to the living room. Aylin was spending the night to 'observe' Cherry. My only thought on that one was _stalker, much? _But it was probably my fault that Cherry was having nightmares and such. Like, what the fuck? Having a random guy (who just so happened to be Sunny's ex) come and stab you might be a bit frightening to, but if I had just grabbed him or something he wouldn't have been able to do that to her at all! I could've grabbed him before he got up, but all I could do was scream my pretty little head off! What is wrong with me? Really, do I want everyone to die or something? Sheesh. I looked over at Sunny. She was staring mindlessly at the TV while playing video games against Aylin and Cherry. Jasper was yelling random instructions at all three of them. I sat watching them, fighting with myself in my head. I wasn't really paying particular attention to what game they were playing, and I was getting really bored. I must've sighed louder than I had intended, because Jasper stopped yelling instructions at the girls to stop and look at me. He asked me qeustions with his eyes. I just shrugged. I didn't exactly feel like watching them play games on the TV.

"Do you want to play?" Jasper asked.

"Not really, thanks." I replied. He looked at the TV then back at me, and he got up from his seat on the arm rest of the couch and sat on the arm rest of my chair.

"What do you want to do then?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I dunno...." I said, looking up at the ceiling and pursing my lips.

"We could go outside or something." He suggested.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know, does it matter?"

"The later it is, the colder it is."

"Not necessarily."

"But still."

"Fine, if you refuse to go outside and get fresh air, we can just sit in here and watch them play video games." He told me.

"What button! What button!" Sunny screamed all of a sudden. Cherry was beating her while Aylin was trying to grab at the popcorn that was sitting next to her while she steered.

"Fine then, let's go outside." I rolled my eyes, and silently slipped out with Jasper into the fresh, dark air...

**You can hit me now. I know, I know, it took foreverrr to get this up, but HEY it's up now, huh? Yeah. Review. Please. I'm begging you! **


	8. Birthday Disasters

**Thank you to HyperPixiexoxo for beta'ing this and also thanks to Charity for helping me make a banner for this story, the link to it is on my profile ;) **

A Few Months Later...

_Dear new online journal,_

_I got a laptop for my fifteenth birthday – from Alice. That woman is made of money. I swear. Jasper got me a bath set, saying I should take better care of my hair and skin. I saw a zit a few days a go, so I welcomed it with open arms. Also, one of the cutest boys at my new school asked me out on the second day of school. He's not a freshman like I am. He's a sophomore, which means he's in his second year of high school. His name is Alejandro, but most people call him Andy. It means protector of men, but he seems to enjoy protecting me better. Not that I looked that up or anything..._

_But still. Jasper's birthday is tomorrow, and Alice says hers is soon too, but I don't know when. Alice is out shopping now for Jasper's party tomorrow. He's spending the night over at one of his old friends because Alice says he's been neglecting his friends ever since she came along. He wasn't happy about it, but he went after hours of Alice's whining. The door just opened and shut. I can hear the rustle of bags downstairs. I can hear Alice calling Sunny and me. I should go now. _

_Sincerely,_

_Chery._

_P.S._

_I apparently don't know how to spell my name right. Cherry._

_**Alice**_

"Sunny! Cherry!" I called up the stairs. Two sets of feet pounded down the steps, making an awful lot of noise.

"What'd you buy him?" They asked.

"It's actually none of your business." I said. Sunny had a look on her face that made me think she had the wrong idea. "Sunny, don't be inappropriate." I said.

"I'm not!" She argued. I rolled my eyes and picked up the two shopping bags I had lugged through the door and held out my arms.

"Carry these up the stairs and to Jasper's room. Do NOT look in them." I said. They each grabbed a bag and slowly walked up stairs. I could hear them discussing what could be in each one. I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket for the fiftieth time, so I pulled it out and looked at the millions of texts Jasper had sent me.

_Hey._

_You there?_

_Alice, are you okay?_

_Hello? Are you alright? Answer me please!_

_Are you okay? Is everything okay? Did you get hurt? Why aren't you answering?_

_Fine_

_Are you mad at me? Alice?_

_Fine then, I'm coming home and I figure the door will be locked so I'm using my secret entrance way._

_I'm on my way!_

The last one was sent at 9:57pm. If he walked home from Peter's house, he'd be back around 10:57. If he got a drive...

I heard a car pull up out front. _Shit. _"Cherry! Sunny! Get down and shove the bags under the bed!" I screamed.

"Why?" Cherry asked.

"Just do it!" I screamed back. I heard the rustle of bags again and pounding footsteps as they came down the stairs again. "Go sleep somewhere!" I ordered. They looked puzzled for a moment, and then went down the almost never-used door to the basement. I heard the upstairs window creak open and I sat on the couch quickly, and I tried to fix my shorts but ended up sitting on the couch with my legs open wide and a frustrated look on my face. Jasper had come down the stairs by now. "These shorts are a bit tight." I said, straining as I pulled at the hem on the inside of my thigh.

"I see." He said quietly. I left my shorts alone and gave Jasper an odd look. He was staring at the wall above my head, but his eyes kept darting down back to me.

"What." I asked flatly.

"It's nothing I just... I thought – I – um..." He didn't finish. I looked him up and down, trying to see if there was something wrong with him. I didn't find anything, although it was just a quick look. I got up and fixed my shorts for the last time, and walked up to Jasper.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked him, putting my hand on his shoulder. "You're basically twenty; you shouldn't be so... whatever you are." I said. Something I had said made him smile.

"You're right. Tomorrow's my birthday, what did you get me?" He asked.

"You'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out, won't you?" I teased him, and kissed him softly. I pulled away from him and yawned. "Well, I'm tired, and the sooner we fall asleep, the sooner tomorrow will come. Goodnight!" He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't, so I went upstairs and lied down on our bed and fell asleep. I was just that tired.

I wasn't sure what time Jasper had come up last night, but he was there when I woke up. My mind raced back to the when I used to wake up in the morning for school and my legs were numb. That's what I felt like now. I closed my eyes again and perhaps fell asleep once more.

When I woke up this time, only an hour had passed. Jasper was holding me loosely in his arms.

"Hey..." I muttered. "Hey!" I shouted this time, jerking out of Jasper's arms and rolling right off the bed with a loud thud. Jasper jumped up and ran over to me.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. Hey... Happy birthday!" I said.

"Thank you." He said. He grabbed my hands and picked me up off the floor. He had slept in his clothes, a habit he had taken up ever since we started sleeping in the same bed.

"Are you coming or do I have to come up there?" Sunny's obnoxious voice echoed upstairs.

"Go downstairs; I'll be there in a second, 'k?" I told Jasper. He nodded, kissed my forehead quickly and rushed out of the room and downstairs. Once I was sure he was nowhere near coming back up, I grabbed the two shopping bags out from under the bed and pulled out the other large gift bag thing I had bought at the dollar store. I grabbed the card I bought and signed it, throwing it in the bag with the stuff I bought him. When I was finished, for some reason I felt extremely cheesy.

Once we were all downstairs, Sunny broke out the brunch she and Cherry had prepared. "You people have to like scrambled eggs."

"I hate eggs." I commented.

"That's grand. I won't make eggs on _your _birthday now will I?" Sunny said, placing the eggs on the table.

"What about pancakes?" Cherry mentioned.

"You would know, Cherry." Jasper said.

"Pancakes is a funny word." Sunny put in. We all turned to look at her. "What?"

"'Pancakes is a funny word,' what kind of a thing is that to say?" I asked.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes.

We ate everything there was to eat, and then had more food with the cake Sunny, Cherry and I had baked yesterday. I glanced at the hand I had burnt on the stove, my knuckles looked funny, which was where I had gotten burnt.

And then it happened... Pain from the back of my skull shot through to the front of my eyes, making me blind. Wet stuff – I made the correct assumption of it being blood – began to flow from my nose.

"What is this?" I shouted. I heard nothing except the sound of my own voice as if I had been dropped into a cell deep down in the ground where no one could hear me. The pain in my head became increasingly unbearable, and my arms felt heavy as I lifted them to hold my head together before it exploded. Then, all of a sudden, my world burst into light, but the pain did not end. I didn't recognize the place I had been thrown into, and the light began to dim until it seemed to only be a small field, with one tree set out farther than I was going to walk.

Two people entered the scene and I squinted my eyes – which didn't do much to help the pain in my head – to see them. I recognized the girl, it was me. And the other one was a boy, but the sun hit him wrong and I couldn't see him clearly. The girl sat down next to the tree and the boy sat next to her, draping his arm lazily around her shoulders. I heard hushed whispers, making me strain my ears automatically, but recoiling when the action sent my head spinning.

"_I love you..."_

"_I love you too darlin'." _

"_Then kiss me." _

There were no more words, and I felt as if I was intruding on a private moment, even though it was me. Wait.

It was me.

I was suddenly being lifted out of the dream-like state and I realized what I had been thrown into. It had been a vision, the first one I'd had since I met Sunny. I suddenly remembered the pain, and now it felt as if my whole body was burning. I opened my mouth and screamed, when voices that seemed to be floating on wind drifted into my mind.

"Is she okay?"

"What's happening?"

"Alice! Alice! Wake up!" I wasn't sleeping, was I? I could tell most of the voices were frantic and yelling just by what they were saying, but they came to my mind like a soft breeze on a hot summer day. Then the pain took over my body and I was being jerked around.

It was unbearable.

Unbelievable. I forced words out of my mouth.

"H-help!" I coughed hard and long before getting more words out. "Jasper!" I shouted, trying to get a connection to someone, anyone. A warm hand was laid across my forehead.

"Don't worry..." The voice was carried on wind. It sounded like Jasper's. "I'm here, I won't leave..."

Everything went dark.

Jasper

Her thrashing stopped and the only sound was Sunny's light snoring and the continuous _beep, beep, beep, _of some kind of machinery I didn't know the name of. My breath came out shaky as I tried to calm myself. I held Alice's lifeless hand in mine, stroking circles on the back of it. I had thought that we were done all of this, that we wouldn't have to come back here. I had felt her pain almost as if it was my own, and it was very clear to all of us that she was hurting. If I was very quiet I could hear Alice's soft shallow breaths. Just now, looking at her pale face made me realize just how much I loved her. I briefly wondered what it would be like if she was mine...

_Alice Whitlock._

I knew for one that Cherry would be ecstatic. She'd been asking me for months if I was going to ask Alice for her hand in marriage, and she'd threatened to ask Alice if she'd marry me herself. Knowing Cherry, she was probably serious. The only problem was the ring, and how I was to get one. I had no money, and surely enough I wouldn't be able to get a job and make enough money for a ring for another year. I knew that most engagement rings were only around five-hundred dollars, if you went cheap.

I was such a sucker that I wasn't about to go far the average every-day engagement ring for someone like Alice. I would search up the world's most expensive engagement rings because I was positive that they would be beautiful, just like Alice.

"Jasper?" A voice, soft like wind, called my name. I looked down at Alice to see here opening her eyes and searching the room.

"I'm right here.." I whispered. Her eyes found mine and she blinked slowly, nodding.

"Where are we? I want to go home." She mentioned.

"I know, I want to go home to." I said.

"My eyes hurt so bad..." She groaned. "What happened, anyways?"

"Well, we were eating cake and then your nose started to bleed and you started screaming, and so we took you here."

"Oh. Sorry I ruined your birthday." She frowned.

"It's alright as long as you're okay." I said. I couldn't believe how cheesy I sounded. She blushed at my words though, showing the smallest sign of a smile.

"Well, I think I'm alright now, just a little headache." She said.

"Oh, well I think there's some medicine or something here the doctor told me to give you if you woke up, just let me find it.." I grabbed a bottle off the table and popped out two white pills. I held them out to Alice and she just stared at them. "Is there something wrong?"

"I can't swallow pills..." She mumbled. I tried to hide my shock, because everyone I knew had known how to swallow pills since they were twelve.

"Why not?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I don't know, I just can't." She said, staring straight up. Sunny's snoring suddenly stopped, and she woke up. I felt a sudden strong distaste in that thought. I wanted to be alone with Alice for once. I sighed louder than I had intended, and Sunny took notice.

"Is there something wrong, Jasper?" She asked me.

"No." My voice sounded strained too.

"He's just upset because I have a really bad headache and there's nothing he can do about it." Alice put in.

"Take pills." Sunny suggested.

"I can't, thanks for being concerned though." I couldn't tell if she was serious or not. She sounded remotely irritated.

"Why not? All you have to do is put them in your mouth with water and swallow them." Sunny said. She was being rude, and it was irritating me.

"I'm _aware _of that, _thank you._" She spat. She was rubbing her temples and squinting her eyes tightly. I stared blankly at the two pills in my hand, wondering what I could do. I absentmindedly crushed one, and then looked up at the glass of water on the table, and it hit me. I crumbled both pills up and dropped them in the water. I then grabbed the water off the table – it was still clear and it didn't look like it had changed at all.

"Here," I said, holding out the water. "Try this."

"What is water going to do?" She wasn't as rude when she spoke to me.

"Just try it." I shoved it towards her some more. She took it hesitantly and sat up slowly then took a huge gulp, suspecting it was water.

She choked on it.

"Hey! Hey!" Sunny yelled, getting up stiffly from the chair she had been seated in. I looked around, looking for something to do. "Don't just sit there, you retard! Get up and help her!" She yelled. Alice stopped choking then, as if she had just done it to get everyone into a frenzy.

"What _is_ that?" She yelled.

"Water." I replied trying to keep the pills a secret.

"That is _not_ water." She replied, clearly upset. Without saying anything, I took the cup from her hand and placed it on the table. She watched me, and then sat there for a minute.

The nurse decided this was the best time to walk in. Alice's glare shifted from me, to Sunny, to the nurse. The nurse was skinny and blonde. The kind you see in movies.

"Are they bothering you?" The nurse asked. Alice hesitated for a second.

"No." She finally answered.

The nurse nodded. "Alright, are you ready to leave?" She asked Alice.

"Yes." Alice lied. She needed pills or something to help her headache. I had nothing at the house for headaches. As if she could read my mind, Alice turned her glare back on me. I kept my mouth shut.

Alice

The car ride home was bumpy. Sunny drove so Jasper could sit in the backseat with me and hold my head steady in his lap. It was better than just a seat belt, but it wouldn't be too great if a police saw us like this.

"Pothole!" Sunny called out. The car bumped up and I groaned in pain.

"Could you go a little slower?" I asked.

"Alice, we're already going fifteen under the speed limit." Sunny said.

"Go slower!" I whined as we went over yet _another _bump.

"Don't whine, it's unattractive" Sunny commented.

"Shut up, I'm not attempting to attract you." I spat. Jasper laughed a little at that, shaking my head. I ignored the pain it caused.

"I will not shut up. I can talk and look at the road at the -"

"SUNNY WATCH OUT!" Jasper yelled, dropping my head. Sunny swerved the car, causing me to be flung over Jasper (who had is seat belt on) and I broke the side window with my head. I grabbed my head which was now in more pain that it had ever been before, and I couldn't even speak over the pounding in my head. I could tell the car had stopped by the side of the road, and I could hear Sunny's shaky breathing.

"Is everyone alright?" She asked.

"No." Jasper answered.

"What happened?" Sunny was immediately worried again.

"My head!" I choked out. Tears were freely streaming down my face.

"Get home, quick!" Jasper ordered. Sunny started the car again, and she was off like a bullet. Jasper pulled me onto his lap and I took my hands off my head and put them around his neck, my aching head resting on his shoulder. "Look at that, you're bleeding." Jasper said quietly.

"I am?" I asked through my tears.

"Yes." The car suddenly swung to the left to make a sharp turn, and Jasper's grip on me tightened to make sure that I didn't go right out the window this time.

"Sorry!" Sunny said. I groaned. The car came to a skidding stop at the front of Jasper's house. He unbuckled his seat belt with trouble, for he didn't want to drop me. I kept holding on and I focused on breathing. Cherry ran out the door when we arrived.

"I thought hospitals were for fixing people, not for making them worse." She said. Jasper ran right past her without a word. She looked confused for a second then followed.

"Where's the old first aid kit, Cherry?" He asked her, setting me down on the couch.

"Upstairs, it's under my bed." She replied. Jasper ran upstairs and came back down in a matter of thirty seconds.

"Cherry, could you hold up her head?" I felt her hands prop up my head while Jasper wrapped gauze around my head.

"The blood is soaking right through." I heard Sunny say.

"I see that." Jasper said.

"How did she stay conscious?" Cherry asked.

"I don't know. She's awfully stubborn." Jasper said. "Where's that liquid medicine stuff mom used to give you when you hit your head?" He asked Cherry.

"I'll find it." Cherry sighed. Sunny took her place holding up my head and Cherry ran upstairs.

"That gauze is making me sweat." I said hoarsely.

"Is the blood still soaking through?" Jasper asked Sunny.

"No. Tie her up, drug her, and we're done." Jasper grimaced. "What? I was just trying to lighten the mood." Sunny rolled her eyes. I felt someone tying the gauze, and then Cherry came back downstairs with the medicine.

"It says twelve and up."

"Give her double the amount given to twelve-year-olds." Sunny said.

"Is that really a good idea?" Jasper said.

"Yes." Sunny said. Jasper hesitated, I watched.

"Okay." He finally answered.

After about twenty minutes, I was up, walking, and watching TV. The gauze wrapped around my head felt weird with all my hair being pushed up. I knew it would be like hell to brush out after the gauze was taken off. My stomach growled and I frowned. Jasper approached me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Hungry?" He whispered into my ear.

"Yes." I answered. I gasped when Jasper bent down and kissed up my neck to below my ear. His teeth grazed my earlobe, and I shivered, involuntarily closing my eyes.

"What would you like?" He whispered.

"What...?" I asked. His hands slid off my waist and he turned me around, kissing me softly on the lips.

"Do you know what you want?" He asked. By now I had lost my reason.

"I know..." I said.

"Do you?" Jasper asked me. He bent down and tried to kiss me softly again, but my arms were up and around his neck before he could protest. I kissed him back this time, crushing my small body against his larger one with force. He held on to my waist and held me up, and we both eventually came crashing down onto the couch. I thought I heard footsteps but I didn't notice.

"HEY! I sit on that couch you know!" Sunny shouted. Jasper pushed me off him and I sat up – on the floor, because Jasper had accidentally pushed me right off the couch, and wiped my mouth off without thinking. Sunny made a face.

"Lunch. Is. Ready." And she walked away. I looked back at Jasper. He was smiling. This made me angry. He had obviously known Sunny had almost had lunch ready, he did come from the kitchen, after all. I glared at him and started to walk away.

"Alice, are you upset or something?" He asked me. I didn't even turn around. I heard him get up so I hurried up. "Hey!" He said, grabbing my shoulder and turning me around. His face was dangerously close to mine, I backed up a bit. His hands cupped my face and he kissed me, acting like a total jerk. At least in my eyes he was. I bit down on his lip – hard. He yanked back and touched his lip.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"Being a jerk."

After lunch, I went up to Jasper's room, where he was lying on the bed. I lied down next to him. When suddenly, I was pulled into another vision. This one didn't hurt.

_I was being consumed by my own emotions, which, at the moment, seemed to consist of love and lust. I was lying on the bed that I was in know, and Jasper was hovering above me, kissing up and down my neck and along my jaw line. He brought his lips to mine and kissed me slowly, deliciously, I moaned, my eyes closing slightly_.

All of a sudden I was yanked out of the vision, and I was back in the real world. I turned to Jasper. I had come in hear to say I was sorry, but I really didn't want to.

"Listen..." I started. Jasper turned to look at me, and without notice, he crushed his lips to mine. I gasped before realizing that my vision was obviously ready to come true, i just wasn't sure if _I _was ready for that. He rolled up so he was over top of me. He kept kissing me, but I tried to pull away. He sat up next to me suddenly.

"Jasper..." I said, upset.

"I'm sorry, I don't – I didn't mean to – I'm sorry." He apologized, looking at his hands. I looked at my hands as well, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to pour down my cheeks. Then one silently fell, followed by a few others. I quickly wiped them away, turning away from Jasper.

"Are you crying?" Jasper asked me, his voice overflowing with worry.

"No." I replied, but my voice revealed my lie.

"Why are you crying?" He asked me, turning my face so I would look at him. "Does your head hurt?" He asked me, examining my bandaged head.

"No!" I said with a little too much force. He immediately backed away again, ashamed of himself.

"Why then?" He asked.

"Because I'm so _stupid!_"

"You're not -"

"Hey!" Sunny shouted as she entered the room. She looked from me to Jasper and back again, then grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the room.

I stared at Jasper as he stared back at me, both of us wondering what was going to happen next. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't going to be easy.

**A/N: Review? **


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